WHO: The time has come to declare war on the tobacco epidemic

This week, thousands of representatives will gather in Beijing to attend this year's National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, where health may be one of the main topics of discussion. There is nothing more important on the national political agenda than the health of 1.36 billion Chinese people. Without health, everything else is meaningless.

Good health is the key to a person's longevity and happiness, and it is also one of the goals that every society strives for its citizens. Good health also means an efficient workforce and a prosperous economy; a healthy economy is a prosperous economy.

This year, we hope to see the NPC and CPPCC members tackle China's deadly tobacco addiction problem.

Some representatives have proposed that this year's conference should be 100% smoke-free, which is a fantastic step in the right direction. It will send a strong signal to the outside world that China is taking the issue of tobacco control seriously.

China is the world's largest producer and consumer of tobacco. Nearly one-third of the world's 1 billion smokers are Chinese men; every minute, two people in China die from smoking-related diseases. The extremely high smoking rate in China, especially among men, contradicts the goal of ensuring longevity and happiness for all Chinese people. The evidence from science and health fields is clear: smoking leads to premature death, and even worse—death.

But we also have good news: we have a series of policy measures that can reduce tobacco use, which have been proven effective worldwide. The world's first health treaty—the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC)—includes these policy measures, such as: banning smoking in all indoor public places; public media campaigns and large graphic warnings on tobacco packaging to remind people of the dangers of smoking; enacting and enforcing comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship; providing support to those who want to quit smoking; and increasing tobacco taxes to raise the prices of tobacco products, making it especially more expensive for young people to smoke, etc. 2015 marked the 10th anniversary of the WHO FCTC's effectiveness and China's approval of the treaty, but progress in China regarding the implementation of the treaty has been insufficient.

Strong evidence worldwide shows that implementing the measures specified in the WHO FCTC has a significant impact on people's health. Reports indicate that since the tobacco control law, which includes many related policies, took effect in Russia in 2013, the number of smokers in Russia decreased by 17% within a year. Russia's smoking rate was even higher than China's, and their experience proves that smoking rates can be reduced.

China made progress in some of these policy areas last year, which the WHO is pleased to see. A national-level tobacco control regulation draft prohibiting smoking in all indoor public places and certain outdoor public places, as well as strengthening warning labels on tobacco products, has been submitted for review by the State Council. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress is currently considering amending the national advertising law to strengthen restrictions on tobacco advertising.

Now, we need strong political commitment and determination to push back against the interference of vested interests from tobacco companies. This will turn the potential progress into strong, enforceable tobacco control policies that can save lives.

I hope to see leaders from all over the country discussing how to work together to achieve the above goals during this week's two sessions, and I also hope to see the venues for their discussions being 100% smoke-free.

Last year, during the NPC session, Premier Li Keqiang proposed the well-known "war on air pollution," which earned the Chinese government a good reputation, as air pollution is a visibly serious issue in China. We hope that 2015 will be the year China declares war on the tobacco epidemic, leading to longer and happier lives for all Chinese people.