On July 22nd, the "China Smoke-free Campus Campaign" was launched in Beijing. The theme of the 2022 campaign is "I am a Smoke-free Guardian, Building a Healthy China Together.
On the launch day of the "Smoke-Free Campus Campaign," a journalist from the New Beijing News interviewed Deputy President Liao Wenke of the China Association on Tobacco Control. He stated that timely smoking education, regulation, and guidance targeting the strong plasticity of young people can help to develop a smoke-free culture, reduce the overall number of smokers, and achieve the smoking control goal of reducing the smoking rate of people aged 15 and above to 20% by 2030.
The rate of middle school students attempting to smoke has reached 16.7%.
New Beijing News: Why conduct the "Tobacco Control Campus Tour" activity?
According to Liao Wenke, when it comes to smoking control, youth is the foundation and the focus. In recent years, the country has placed special emphasis on smoking control for youths, making it a key measure for achieving comprehensive tobacco control objectives. Seeing the importance of controlling smoking in youths, the China Association on Tobacco Control initiated an activity to address the issue.
New Beijing News: Have there been anti-smoking activities on campuses in the past?
Liao Wenke stated that efforts to control smoking in schools already exist, with both education departments and schools working on the issue. However, there has not been a brand-driven campaign like "China Smoke-free Campus Tour" in the past.
The Chinese Association on Tobacco Control aims to build a brand out of its "Tobacco Control Campus Tour" campaign. Previously branded anti-smoking initiatives, such as signature drives for "Refusing the First Cigarette," World No Tobacco Day activities centered around the slogan "No Smoking, Healthy and Fashionable," and monitoring of tobacco usage in popular domestic film and television productions, have all had significant impact.
What is the current percentage of teenage smoking in China, according to the Beijing News?
Liao Wenke, a representative from China's Anti-Smoking Association, stated that while their organization has not conducted any relevant surveys, they have been closely monitoring data and information related to smoking in the country. According to officials from the National Health Commission, the smoking rate among young people is at 6.9%, with a 19.9% attempt rate. Additionally, 180 million children have been exposed to secondhand smoke in either their homes or public spaces.
A recent study on tobacco use among Chinese high school and university students, conducted by the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, revealed that 16.7% of high school students have tried smoking, with 23.2% of male students and 9.5% of female students having done so. Compared to 2019, the percentage of high school students who have tried smoking has decreased by 1.2 percentage points, with male students experiencing a 2.8 percentage point decrease.
In recent years, the Chinese government has placed an increasing emphasis on smoking control in schools, which is reflected in the available statistics.
Creating a 'smoke-free culture' by diluting the smoking population with young people.
New Beijing News: What is the smoking situation like on campus?
Liao Wenke said, "Overall, smoking control on campus is much better than in other public places. This is due to the various smoking regulations implemented by the government and the easier management of students, resulting in more effective results.
Xinjing Daily: Why do we still need to enforce campus smoking bans even if the situation has already improved?
Liao Wenke, a smoking control expert, believes that adolescence is a crucial time for developing behavior habits, and smoking habits are highly malleable during this period. Therefore, it is essential to focus on educating, supervising, and guiding teenagers in smoking control in order to keep them away from cigarettes. By doing so, they are less likely to try smoking as adults. However, quitting smoking is a difficult task, especially for those who have become addicted. Thus, increasing efforts in smoking control for teenagers is crucial to reduce the number of new smokers and promote a smoke-free culture. This approach will contribute to reducing the national smoking rate.
The "Healthy China 2019-2030 Action Plan" has set a target to reduce the smoking rate among people aged 15 and above to 20% by 2030, which currently stands at 26%. How will this 6% reduction be achieved? Quitting smoking is not easy, but we should encourage and guide more people to quit. However, it is easier to achieve the goal by reducing the number of new smokers aged 15 years and above each year.
We have teamed up to launch the "China Smoking Control Campus Campaign" with the goal of creating a smoke-free culture, preventing youth smoking, and gradually reducing the population of smokers by encouraging non-smoking youth.
At the same time, we need to educate young people about the dangers of smoking through the "big hand holding small hand" approach, and encourage children to persuade their fathers to quit smoking in order to establish smoke-free households and school campuses. There have been many successful cases in this regard, which makes it a great way to control smoking. We have previously organized a smoking control brand activity called "Persuading Fathers to Quit Smoking" for this purpose.
New Beijing News: You mentioned a smoke-free culture, could you explain what that means?
Liao Wenke believes that it is important to raise awareness among Chinese citizens that smoking is not only detrimental to one's health, but also a bad habit and behavior. Smoking not only harms one's own health, but also the health of others. While individuals have the right to choose to smoke, they should not do so in public places where it could harm others. Giving harmful cigarettes as gifts to others is also unacceptable. Furthermore, not smoking is a fashionable and civilized behavior that demonstrates good manners. Through education aimed at young people, it is important to create a smoke-free culture, as only then can the efforts to control smoking have a lasting and positive effect.
Expanding the coverage of anti-smoking efforts for youth by entering school campuses.
New Beijing News: Why did the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control team up with the China Education Association and the 21st Century Public Welfare Foundation to organize the "China Tobacco Control Campus Tour" event?
Liao Wenke, the head of China Tobacco Control Association, explained the association's primary function is to assist the government in tobacco control efforts. To expand their reach, they partnered with China Education Society in launching the "China Tobacco Control Campus Tour". This partnership grants access to schools for the campaign. Through education lectures and essay writing competitions, the partnership hopes to empower youth to take a stronger stance against tobacco use.
Xin Jing Bao: What are the differences between tobacco control among adolescents and other groups?
Liao Wenke, a smoking cessation expert, highlights the effectiveness of targeting tobacco control efforts towards adolescents. He emphasizes that young people are still developing their behavior patterns and habits, and controlling their smoking habits at an early age will benefit them for a lifetime. In contrast, adults often struggle to quit because their smoking habits are deeply ingrained. Additionally, Liao notes that schools provide a complete education system, which makes it easier to promote smoking cessation education to every student. This is not always possible on a societal level. Furthermore, smoking restrictions such as economic dependence and legal regulations against selling tobacco products to minors create better conditions for smoking cessation among students.
Improvements needed in smoking education methods for teenagers.
The Beijing News: What are the difficulties currently facing youth smoking control?
Liao Wenke, a researcher, has pointed out that while efforts to educate and promote anti-smoking among young people have increased in recent years, the methods used are often monotonous and fail to engage students. As a result, the effectiveness of such campaigns is questionable, despite their importance. Wenke suggests that there is a need to explore new and more effective ways to educate and encourage young people to stop smoking.
On the other hand, controlling smoking is not just a matter of school education but also of social environment. The Law on the Protection of Minors stipulates that the sale of tobacco to minors is prohibited. However, in reality, this is not fully enforced, as minors are still able to purchase tobacco products online. Furthermore, smoking scenes in movies and TV shows still exist. These observations indicate that there is still room for improvement in creating an environment that keeps young people away from tobacco.
New Beijing News: Apart from traditional tobacco, what are the risks of electronic cigarettes for adolescents?
Liao Wenke, a specialist in public health, asserts that electronic cigarettes are highly attractive to young people due to their various shapes and flavors, which often lead them to become addicted. These devices contain nicotine, which is known for its addictive properties. It is important to note that once young people become addicted to e-cigarettes, they may then turn to traditional cigarettes. For this reason, many countries have implemented strict laws prohibiting the sale of e-cigarettes to minors.
On the other hand, electronic cigarettes are easy for parents, schools, and teachers to overlook. Parents and teachers are very sensitive to students smoking traditional cigarettes, believing it to be a bad habit. However, the same level of concern is not given to those who smoke electronic cigarettes.
Moreover, electronic cigarette manufacturers engage in misleading advertising, which is also detrimental to tobacco control efforts. From a tobacco control education perspective, the risks associated with e-cigarettes cannot be ignored.
The Beijing News: What other efforts, in addition to strengthening youth smoking prevention, do you believe are necessary to achieve the 2030 tobacco control target?
Liao Wenke emphasized the importance of acknowledging the difficulty of achieving the goal, feeling a sense of urgency, and taking a comprehensive approach to tobacco control efforts. He also stressed the need to increase efforts and carry out a series of actions to ultimately achieve the 2030 tobacco control target.
For example, efforts must be increased to promote smoking control. This can be achieved by improving the ways and effectiveness of advertising. Tobacco taxes and retail prices must be reasonably increased to reduce tobacco consumption. This has been proven effective in practice. Health warnings on cigarette packaging should also be strengthened. The current warning "smoking is harmful to health" is not sufficient. Moreover, the highly elaborate and art-like packaging of cigarettes in China undermines smoking control efforts by overshadowing the health hazard warnings. It not only promotes smoking but also strengthens gift giving culture. Therefore, from the perspective of building a healthy China, we need to take a major step forward in terms of health hazard warnings on cigarette packages. Health warnings must be used effectively to promote awareness of the harmful effects of smoking. Furthermore, the society must improve its publicity on the dangers of tobacco by moving beyond empty rhetoric. This is an urgent need that must be addressed.
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