China News Service, Beijing, May 26 (Reporter Li Chun) The Planning Department of the National Health Commission of China and the World Health Organization Representative Office in China jointly held a press conference in Beijing on the 26th to release the "Report on the Health Risks of Smoking in China 2020", and Introduce China's 2021 World No Tobacco Day theme publicity activities and "China Quit Smoking Platform" mini program.
In order to raise the public’s awareness of the dangers of smoking and encourage smokers to quit, the "China Smoking Hazards Health Report 2020" examines the relationship between smoking and second-hand smoke exposure and the four major chronic diseases, namely chronic respiratory diseases, malignant tumors, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes. The global scientific basis for the connection has been updated.
At the same time, the report added a new chapter on the health hazards of electronic cigarettes.
Wu Xiangtian, deputy director of the Planning Department of the National Health Commission of China, pointed out that through the publication of the report, he hopes to effectively inform the public about the harm of tobacco and e-cigarettes, improve smokers' willingness to quit smoking, and help more smokers to quit smoking addiction through scientific methods.
Event scene.
Photo courtesy of the conference organizer
Wang Chen, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, director of the China National Respiratory Medicine Center, and director of the World Health Organization's Smoking Cessation and Respiratory Disease Prevention Cooperation Center, said that smoking is the worst cause of disease, and tobacco control is the best good for disease prevention.
To reduce the smoking rate, the public's awareness of the health hazards of smoking needs to be improved and deepened.
"Commitment to quit smoking" is the theme of World No Tobacco Day 2021.
Over the past year or so, the new crown pneumonia pandemic has given millions of people around the world the desire to quit smoking.
To this end, the World Health Organization launched a one-year global campaign called “Commit to Quit Smoking” for World No Tobacco Day 2021 in December last year. At a time when public health awareness has increased significantly, the World Health Organization will help smokers and encourage them to quit smoking successfully.
"Tobacco use causes 8 million deaths worldwide each year, and providing help to quit smoking is an important part of tobacco control strategies. Through the'commitment to quit smoking', we work with governments and partners in various countries to ensure that smokers have access to such things as grassroots. Health services can provide short smoking cessation interventions, national free smoking cessation hotlines, digital or mobile smoking cessation services, and drug therapy and other smoking cessation aids.” said Dr Gauden Galea, the representative of the World Health Organization in China.
The "Outline of the "Healthy China 2030" Plan" proposes that by 2030, the smoking rate of people over 15 years old will be reduced to 20%.
The Healthy China Action (2019-2030) issued by the Healthy China Action Promotion Committee also lists tobacco control as one of the special actions.
Under the guidance of the Tobacco Control Action Working Group of the Healthy China Action Promotion Committee and the support of the World Health Organization representative office in China, the China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has integrated the authoritative smoking cessation resources of China’s 31 provincial administrative regions to create the “China Smoking Cessation Platform” WeChat Applets.
Relying on digital means, a variety of smoking cessation services and resources, including smoking cessation clinics, smoking cessation hotlines, smoking cessation mini-programs, and WeChat mutual aid groups, have become within reach, making it easy for smokers to choose smoking cessation services that are suitable for them and have been proven effective.
Wu Xiangtian pointed out that reducing the smoking rate requires the joint efforts of the government, society, families and individuals to create a smoke-free environment that helps smokers to quit and provide smokers with help to quit smoking.
To this end, the National Health Commission of China will carry out propaganda on smoking cessation and a smoke-free environment during World No Tobacco Day this year.
In addition, the participating experts also had an in-depth discussion on the types of smoking cessation services and resources and the provision of suitable smoking cessation services to smokers.
It is reported that the "China Smoking Cessation Platform" mini program has been officially launched. You can visit the website of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention or search for "China Smoking Cessation Platform" in WeChat.
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