Note: World Lung Foundation united with The Union North America. From January 2016, the combined organization is known as “Vital Strategies.”
(New York, USA) – World Lung Foundation called for an acceleration of tobacco control measures in the wake of a new report from World Bank entitled “Toward a Healthy and Harmonious Life in China: Stemming the Rising Tide of Non-Communicable Diseases.” According to the report, NCDs account for 80% of China’s 10.3 million deaths.
In the report, World Bank estimates the number of NCD cases among Chinese people over 40 will double or even triple over the next two decades. Tobacco use is a major risk factor for all of the top NCDs in China, which are listed in the report as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and lung cancer. The Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) released by China last year revealed that 28% of adults (350 million people) in China are current tobacco users, putting them at risk of future NCD death.
Peter Baldini, Chief Executive Officer, World Lung Foundation commented: “If there is one thing China could do to save millions of lives, it would be to implement effective tobacco control. Policies to warn consumers about the risks of tobacco use, raise taxes on tobacco, implement comprehensive smoke-free areas and restrict tobacco industry marketing offer huge health benefits at relatively low cost.”
Recent research from the Lancet NCD Action Group found that such policies could cost the Chinese Government as little as 15 US cents per person per year. GATS showed that 41% of Chinese smokers are planning to quit or thinking about quitting, suggesting expanded focus on public education campaigns alone could prompt millions to quit.
The impact on non-smokers could be even more significant. GATS reported that in China, 55% of non-smoking adults working indoors are exposed to secondhand smoke in the workplace. An overall reduction in the number of smokers, combined with effective smoke-free policies, could effect a dramatic reduction in tobacco-related health problems suffered by non-smokers.
Baldini continued: “Today’s report shows that the dangers are real so we urge China to accelerate its implementation of the World Health Organization’s six “MPOWER” policy measures to reduce tobacco use.”
The World Health Organization’s M-P-O-W-E-R strategies to reduce tobacco consumption are endorsed and promoted by the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, of which World Lung Foundation is a principal partner.
WLF is also a partner in the NCD Alliance, which advocates for the inclusion of NCDs in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Working toward a high-level summit meeting that will be attended by heads of state and leading global policy makers in September 2011, WLF has pledged its full support to ensuring NCDs and risk factors such as tobacco use are appropriately addressed at the Summit. WLF launched an online advocacy campaign, 15000aDay.org, which empowers the public to call upon their governments to take strong action against tobacco at the U.N. Summit on NCDs. The effort that has garnered activism in more than 90 countries.