China, the world’s largest tobacco consumer, is set to ban smoking in all public areas nationwide by 2014.
China’s Ministry of Health issued guidelines in 2011 to ban smoking in some public places, but the rules have not been strictly enforced, China’s state-run news agency Xinhua reported.
Every year, over a million deaths are reported in the country from tobacco-related diseases, Zinhua said. About one in three cigarettes smoked in the world is in China, and more than half of Chinese men smoke, CNN reported.
“China stands on its own in the magnitude of the problem,” said Dr. Judith Mackay, the senior adviser at the World Lung Foundation. “This isn’t a health problem. It’s a huge economic problem. There’s all these things ranging from medical and health care costs, the costs to the families and there’s the cost of secondhand smoke.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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