To protect people from exposure to secondhand smoke, seven cities in China will take the first steps in creating legislation on stopping smoking at public venues and workplaces.

    Under the project, jointly held by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention （CDC） and the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease（UNION）, the cities - Tianjin, Chongqing, Shenyang, Harbin, Nanchang, Lanzhou and Shenzhen will implement a smoking ban in public and in workplaces.

    Currently, smoking is allowed in certain areas in public places, and experts said the enforcement of smoking bans is poor.

    "This project would create strict legislation to guarantee 100-percent smoke-free public venues and workplaces and figure out a feasible and forceful working mechanism to enforce the smoking ban," said Wang Yu, director of China CDC at the project launch Friday.

    "Only with the support of the pilot cities' municipal governments and legislatures can the people there finally enjoy smoke-free environments," he noted.

    The largest tobacco consumer worldwide, China has 350 million smokers, official statistics show. Also, 540 million non-smokers are exposed to the hazards of secondhand smoke.

    Apart from 1 million smoking-related deaths each year in China, passive smoking causes around 100,000 deaths annually in the country.

    "In that regard, the project, if realized, would help save millions of lives through lowering tobacco consumption and reducing secondhand smoking," said Dr Sinead Jones with UNION.

    "The project would be scaled up to cover the whole nation in the future to protect more people from smoking," said Wang.

    Xie Zhiyong, professor with the China University of Political Science and Law, said by weighing the benefits and risks of tobacco, the country should take bolder steps in smoking and tobacco control.

    Official statistics show smoking costs the nation more than 252 billion yuan （$37 billion） each year in medical costs, fire and environmental pollution, far beyond the tax revenue generated from the industry.

    "For smoking bans in public places, legislation comes first, with implementation the key link," Xie said.

    At present, health administrations are in charge of enforcing smoking bans in public places, which are usually poorly staffed, according to Xie.

    Besides, some local governments count heavily on the local tobacco industry as a major source of tax revenue, which as a result makes smoking more difficult to control, he said, adding that tobacco companies are all State owned in China.

    Smoking control might be the first step towards tobacco control, which needs support from the decision maker, the legislature and the media, he added.

    為了保護(hù)人們免受二次煙暴露的危害，中國的7個城市將邁出立法第一步，禁止在公共場所和工作地點(diǎn)吸煙。

    為了響應(yīng)中國疾病預(yù)防控制中心（CDC）和國際抗結(jié)核和肺病聯(lián)合會（UNION）共同推出的項(xiàng)目，天津、重慶、沈陽、哈爾濱、南昌、蘭州以及深圳將在公共場所和工作地點(diǎn)實(shí)行吸煙禁令。

    目前，一些地方允許在公共場所吸煙，專家指出，吸煙禁令的執(zhí)行情況比較差。

    在周五的項(xiàng)目推介會上，中國疾病預(yù)防控制中心主任王宇指出，"該項(xiàng)目將制定嚴(yán)格的立法，確保煙公共場所和工作地點(diǎn)百分之百無煙，制定出可行的工作機(jī)制執(zhí)行禁止吸煙的法規(guī)。"

    王宇主任同時指出："只有獲得試點(diǎn)城市市政府的支持和制定法規(guī)，人們才能最終享受無煙的環(huán)境。"

    根據(jù)官方統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)，中國是世界上最大的煙草消費(fèi)國，擁有3.5億煙民。同時，5.4億的非煙民也遭受二次吸煙的危害。

    在中國，每年1億人死于吸煙引起的各種疾病，同時，還有100000死于二次吸煙導(dǎo)致的疾病。

    國際抗結(jié)核和肺病聯(lián)合會成員Sinead Jones 博士指出，"該項(xiàng)目如果得到實(shí)施，將大大降低煙草的消費(fèi)，減少二次吸煙，從而挽救成千上萬人的生命。

    王宇主任指出，"將來，該項(xiàng)目將推向全國，保護(hù)遠(yuǎn)離吸煙的危害。"

    中國政法大學(xué)謝志勇教授指出，"通過權(quán)衡煙草帶來的收益和危害，中國在吸煙和煙草控制方面邁出了勇敢的一步。"

    官方統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)顯示，全國吸煙造成的醫(yī)療費(fèi)用、火災(zāi)、環(huán)境污染的費(fèi)用高達(dá)520億元（370億美元）,遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超出煙草行業(yè)產(chǎn)生的稅收收入。

    謝教授指出，"要在公共場所禁止吸煙，首先要制定立法，而執(zhí)行是關(guān)鍵環(huán)節(jié)。"

    他同時還指，"目前，衛(wèi)生部負(fù)責(zé)執(zhí)行禁止吸煙的法規(guī)，但是衛(wèi)生部人手不足。"

    謝教授還告訴我們，"此外，煙草行業(yè)是部分地方政府的主要稅收來源，加上煙草公司都是國有企業(yè)，這將使得煙草控制更加困難。"

    謝教授補(bǔ)充指出，"吸煙控制是煙草控制的第一步，需要政府決策者、立法機(jī)關(guān)和媒體的共同支持。"