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Amended smoking law coming
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SHANGHAI’S lawmakers are working to amend the current anti-smoking law to include a ban on smoking in indoor public and at work places after an earlier effort during the 2010 World Expo delivered expected results.
The amended draft is expected to be introduced next year, local health officials said yesterday. The draft includes clauses for ban on tobacco advertisement, promotion and sponsorship.
The number of people persuading others to stop smoking also rose from 19 percent to 43.2 percent. Till now, 770 units, including 16 government facilities, and 334 individuals were fined 1.49 million yuan (US$ 238,000) for violating the law.
“The drop of smoking detection rate — 2.6 percentage points — last year was the biggest in the past five years. We are especially glad to see a drop in smoking at entertainment venues and restaurants, which are always very tough to implement,” said Li Zhongyang, vice director of Shanghai Health Promotion Commission.
“The smoking rate in Internet cafes, which though rose 1.1 percentage points from the pervious year, was also 11.5 percentage points lower than 2012.”
The current law only stipulates smoking ban in 13 types of places including primary schools and kindergartens, restaurants with 75 seats or more, and business areas spread over 150 square meters told to clearly mark smoking and non-smoking areas.
But the law falls far short of the requirement demanded by the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, to which China is a signatory.
Other cities like Harbin, Shenzhen and Beijing have issued laws banning smoking in all indoor public and work places, and in public transportation.
Local health authorities also stepped up initiatives to help people who want to quit smoking. The 12310 hotline is now offering consultation and guidance to those keen on quitting smoking.
Citizens can also report violations at another hotline 12345.
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