Building smoke-free cities
WHO / Xu Peng
The Birds Nest adorned with giant no-smoking banners for the World No Tobacco Day campaign.
The Birds Nest adorned with giant no-smoking banners for the World No Tobacco Day campaign.
©
Credits
Overview
Exposure to second-hand smoke causes a range of serious health problems including cancer, heart disease, and stroke. Only 100% smoke-free environments can offer effective protection from second hand smoke. If designated spaces – such as individual hotel rooms, single occupancy offices and designated smoking areas in restaurants – are exempt from smoke-free laws, people who have to enter those spaces will still be exposed. Ventilation and air filtration systems are ineffective at fully removing environmental tobacco smoke indoor. It also makes enforcement more challenging as the enforcers need to identify where the violation took place.
The requirements of the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) are clear on this: all indoor public places, public transport facilities, and indoor workplaces – including all areas of offices, hotels, airports, and restaurants – should be 100% smoke-free. China signed the WHO FCTC convention in 2003, ratified in 2005, and the treaty came into legal force for China in 2006.
WHO China supports the Chinese government to adopt WHO FCTC compliant smoke-free laws at both national and subnational level through the smoke-free city movement and Healthy Cities initiative.
The requirements of the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) are clear on this: all indoor public places, public transport facilities, and indoor workplaces – including all areas of offices, hotels, airports, and restaurants – should be 100% smoke-free. China signed the WHO FCTC convention in 2003, ratified in 2005, and the treaty came into legal force for China in 2006.
WHO China supports the Chinese government to adopt WHO FCTC compliant smoke-free laws at both national and subnational level through the smoke-free city movement and Healthy Cities initiative.
Key facts
More than 20 cities in China have adopted comprehensive smoke-free laws, covering 11.33% of Chinese population.
The Healthy China Action Plan 2019-2030 set out the target that comprehensive smoke-free law will cover 30% of total population by 2022 and 80% by 2030.