Introduction to the basic situation of social management of tobacco control in various countries

As early as November 2014, the Health and Family Planning Commission drafted the "Regulations on Smoking Control in Public Places (Draft for Review)" and publicly solicited opinions from the public. This is the first time that my country has formulated administrative regulations to comprehensively control tobacco across the country. However, judging from the history of tobacco control in our country for many years, difficulty in enforcement and repeated bans have always been a major drawback. How to truly implement laws and regulations has become the focus of public attention.

my country’s tobacco control legislation has not stopped

From November 21st to 24th, the 9th Global Health Promotion Conference was held in Shanghai. The conference released the "Health in Sustainable Development in 2030" Promoting the Shanghai Declaration, calling on governments to commit to integrating health promotion into the sustainable development agenda.

At the press conference of the conference, Mao Qun'an said that strictly controlling smoking in public places through legislation is in itself a health promotion. For smoking behavior to be truly corrected, the public needs to be fully aware of the dangers of tobacco, and smokers need to be conscious. Non-smokers must learn to use legal weapons to maintain a smoke-free environment in public places.

Mao Qun'an said that the Chinese government has increased publicity to the public about the dangers of tobacco, and is also fulfilling the requirements of the Framework Convention on Tobacco advocated by the WHO through legislation and reform of tobacco product tax prices.

At the 11th Asia-Pacific Tobacco Control Conference held in September this year, Wang Hesheng, deputy director of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said that 18 cities in my country have formulated local tobacco control regulations, and tobacco control legislation and law enforcement have achieved remarkable results. .

How to control tobacco abroad

Many countries in the world have also made tobacco control an important task of social management.

United States

The U.S. government has been promoting anti-smoking campaigns since the mid-1960s. In 1965, the U.S. Surgeon General released a report clarifying the harm of smoking to the human body, which directly led to regulations mandating health warnings on the boxes of cigarettes and other tobacco products.

At present, Washington, the capital of the United States, and 26 states and about 700 cities have enacted comprehensive anti-smoking laws, banning smoking in workplaces, restaurants and bars, and the ban covers about half of the population of the United States. As one of the cities with the strongest tobacco control efforts in the United States, New York has even set a lower age limit for purchasing cigarettes. In November 2013, New York issued regulations prohibiting the sale of cigarettes to people under the age of 21.

France

According to a survey by the French health department, tobacco poisoning kills 60,000 French people every year. As early as 1991, France promulgated the "Evan Law", which stipulated a complete ban on cigarette advertising, a ban on smoking in public places, and the tar and nicotine content must be marked on cigarette boxes and printed with "Smoking is harmful to health"? warning text.

In order to protect the health of the people, the French government has continued to increase its anti-smoking efforts in the past two years. Through measures such as increasing tobacco prices, strengthening legal restrictions, and expanding no-smoking areas, the results of the anti-smoking ban have gradually emerged: tobacco consumption has declined. , the number of smokers decreased.

UK

In July 2007, the UK Health Act came into effect. Smoking is prohibited in any indoor workplace, public buildings and public transport across the UK. Office buildings must post no-smoking signs in conspicuous places, and employee smoking areas are prohibited. Smokers must smoke outside the building.

In addition, the UK has also strengthened fines. Smokers in indoor workplaces can be fined up to ￡200 (approximately RMB 1,700). For employers, if they do not prevent employees from smoking in the workplace, they can be fined up to 2,500 pounds (approximately 22,000 yuan).

Japan

Among developed countries, Japan’s tobacco control management started relatively late, but its results have been remarkably effective. In Japan, "no smoking" related signs can be found on the ground or walls of public places at any time. If Japanese smokers smoke outdoors, they usually bring their own ashtrays and dispose of their own cigarette butts.

In 2003, the Japanese Parliament implemented the "Health Promotion Law", which clearly stipulated that no smoking measures should be taken in public places such as schools, government buildings, medical institutions, shopping malls, stations, and parks.

At the same time, local governments across the country have successively implemented the "Road Smoking Prohibition Ordinance", which prohibits smoking on the road. Violators will be fined about 1,500 yen (approximately 92 yuan). In 2008, Tokyo began to promote smoke-free taxis. In 2009, smoking was banned at stations, including platforms. The space for smokers is constantly being compressed.

Publicity and education are the focus of tobacco control work

Judging from the experience of various countries, the success of tobacco control mainly depends on two aspects. One is whether the tobacco control regulations themselves are complete and strict; Tobacco control environment for the entire society.

China’s tobacco control currently faces the dilemma of insufficient law enforcement and an imperfect social environment. Therefore, successful tobacco control also requires an in-depth public education on smoking control to make people realize that refusing to inhale second-hand smoke is to protect their right to life and health.

It is an effective method to guide citizens to take the initiative to stop smoking, actively supervise and stop smoking in public places, and form a law enforcement system environment led by the government and participated by the whole people.

Jiang Yuan, deputy director of the Tobacco Control Office of the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that the non-smoking public should be the first enforcer of tobacco control, venue operators are the second enforcer, and the last is the health supervision department.