Beijing Tobacco Control Association: The right to health is higher than the right to smoke
"In the past five years, the "Smokeless Beijing" WeChat public account has received a total of 51625 complaints from the public about illegal smoking. Volunteers have verified and processed 22103 complaints, and the effective complaint handling rate reached 42.82%. It turns out that smokers often clash when they are dissuaded Now most people change it immediately. The rate of compliance with regulations continues to increase and smoking rates continue to decline. This is a big change," said Zhang Jianshu, president of the Beijing Association for Smoking Control (hereinafter referred to as the "Association").
On May 31, the "Beijing Regulations on Smoking Control" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations") was implemented for five years. In an interview with a reporter from the China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily, Zhang Jianshu recalled that five years ago, smoking was allowed in public places in Beijing. The restaurant only draws a line out of thin air, one side is a smoking area and the other is a non-smoking area. "This line has no effect. 68% of non-smokers are victims of second-hand smoke, and the ambiguity of regulations has led managers to be helpless about second-hand smoke."
With the formal implementation of the "Regulations", smoking is no longer allowed in public places, indoor environments in workplaces, outdoor queuing, etc. When meeting illegal smokers, the masses can report by telephone or WeChat. Tobacco control volunteers will come to the home to deliver the notice of report, requesting the reported entity to make corrections.
Building a smoke-free barrier for the healthy growth of adolescents
A few days ago, the Association won the "World No Tobacco Day Award" issued by the World Health Organization. The official website of the World Health Organization stated that “only by working together can the vision of a healthy China be realized and the next generation of smoke-free people can rise.”
Studies have shown that regardless of recent smoking or not, the working memory accuracy of smokers will be impaired. The younger the age of smoking, the worse the cognitive function performance. Long-term smoking, nicotine will cause the reduction of the number of cells and the change of cell volume in the cerebral cortex, midbrain and hippocampus, and eventually manifest as a decrease in cognitive function.
In November 2019, the National Health Commission, the Central Propaganda Department, and the Ministry of Education jointly issued the “Notice on Further Strengthening Youth’s Tobacco Control Work”, with particular emphasis on paying attention to the problem of youth smoking and creating an environment for young people to stay away from tobacco. "Protecting young people and preventing them from entering the smoking team can achieve the grand goal of a smoke-free China and a healthy China." Zhang Jianshu said.
The association has continued to do work to protect young people from the harm of tobacco for a long time, and has completed two surveys of 100-meter-sale cigarette spots around schools in Beijing, which provides a basis for government departments to make decisions. In 2019, the People’s Procuratorate of Haidian District, Beijing combined with the problems found in the frontline work and the survey data provided by the association, required the tobacco bureau in the district to take immediate measures to strictly implement the sale of tobacco to minors and 100 meters around the school. Smoke point. This was also included in the work report of the Supreme People's Procuratorate this year.
At the same time, the association pays close attention to e-cigarette development trends and other frontier issues in tobacco control. In order to further promote the harm of e-cigarettes, especially to protect young people from the misleading and temptation of e-cigarettes, it advocates smokers to quit smoking voluntarily, and produced 475 episodes of short videos and special topics. Documentaries and other works are pushed and spread on the new media platform.
During the epidemic, the community corridor became a "heavy disaster area" for illegal smoking complaints
According to the statistics of the "Smokeless Beijing" WeChat public complaint reporting platform, from January 1 to May 28, 2020, 3,342 clues for complaints about tobacco control were received, with an average of 22 reported daily, a decrease of 50.3% compared with the same period in 2019 .
It is worth noting that there have been a marked increase in complaints of illegal smoking in corridors, walkways, and elevators of apartment buildings in community residents in Beijing. From late January to the end of February, there were 598 complaints of illegal smoking in community residents’ buildings. "A small number of "smokers" are afraid that smoking at home will affect the health of their families, but they have seriously ignored the public health benefits, leaving innocent elderly people and children deeply hurt by second-hand smoke." Zhang Jianshu told reporters.
In order to further protect citizens' rights and interests from second-hand smoke, the association used big data and the Internet to organize the development of a tobacco control data integration system-"a map of tobacco control". In "One Picture for Tobacco Control", citizens can make online complaints and report on illegal smoking behaviors through mobile phone photography, video recording and other functions at any time and any place. The relevant information can be uploaded to the system in real time, and the units and individuals complained of can be exposed in real time. The information of industries and regions that are subject to more complaints will be promptly and publicly exposed. According to the task dispatch form formed by the system, the tobacco control volunteers of the association will arrive at the scene to inform, discourage, and help rectification. At present, the "tobacco control one picture" complaint channel has been set up on WeChat "city service", and it is more convenient for citizens to participate in tobacco control complaints. Zhang Jianshu called on the masses to report illegal smoking, and jointly supervised the strengthening of tobacco control management.
From being blind to being intolerable
From supporting the adoption and implementation of the "Beijing Smoking Control Regulations", from organizing tens of thousands of tobacco control volunteers to actively carrying out various forms of publicity and education activities, and flexibly using innovative technologies to achieve social co-governance, the association concluded the typical tobacco control Experience has formed the "VIP (Volunteer Volunteer-Internet-Press News Promotion)" Beijing tobacco control society co-governance model.
"Tobacco control expert" Li Lei recalled that when he was a child, there were always uncles and aunts playing mahjong. The smoky environment caused him to have a bad trachea since childhood. He had a bad cold and cough, and arguing with his father was also caused by smoking. Going to college, he was the only person in the dormitory who did not smoke. In the environment of second-hand smoke, Li Lei could only "escape, endure, and silently resist, pretending to be numb and calm."
When asked why he insisted on tobacco control later, Li Lei always replied "because of justice." "Tobacco control is positive, sunny, and just. Failure to create a correct environmental orientation may affect the next generation. Our ultimate goal is to give everyone a sense of creating a healthy environment together, and let everyone awe the law Regulations, consciously maintain a healthy living environment, and truly be responsible to themselves, to the family, and to the society." Li Lei said.
Today, the association has 13,886 volunteers like Li Lei, who serve more than 1.8 million hours per year. Volunteers widely distributed self-made tobacco control posters, cigarette boxes and other promotional materials, and linked with the health supervision department, which effectively helped improve the efficiency of Beijing's tobacco control law enforcement. The volunteer team who "controls tobacco every Wednesday" has become a beautiful scenery in Beijing.
"In the field of tobacco control, from negligence to intolerance is a milestone. Beijing has done it, and will develop in the direction of stricter and localized law enforcement in the future. The association will make persistent efforts to provide technology for the gridization of tobacco control law enforcement in various streets and towns. Support and the protection of the volunteer team." Zhang Jianshu said.
On the eve of World No Tobacco Day on May 31, 11 experts including Academician Zhong Nanshan, Academician Li Lanjuan, and Academician Wang Chen urged the public to listen to doctors, refrain from smoking and refuse secondhand smoke, hoping that the hard-won health can be cherished. Academician Zhong Nanshan warned everyone: "Like responding to the epidemic, tobacco control also requires national strength and even more determination."
China Youth Daily · China Youth Network reporter Zhang Manyu Source: China Youth Daily