Related News
Puffers relent, slowly, in smoking crackdown
By Gu Jialan and Fei Lai |
January 31, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE smoking rate in public areas of Jiading District has been reduced by almost 2 percentage points to 26 percent, according to a recent report, based on two surveys conducted last year involving 7,600 people.
The number of people employed in smoke-free workplaces rose to 63 percent from 52 percent in the prior survey.
The report found that public awareness about no-smoking zones is on the rise, with about four-fifths of respondents saying they were aware of such bans.
Gong Yueliang, vice director of the district's Patriotic Health Campaign Office, credited the district's anti-smoking campaign with the reduction in the smoking rate.
"A smoking-control team involving 10 departments has inspected more than 1,400 smoke-free venues,'' Gong said. "Some 40,000 no-smoking signs have been posted and 1,046 volunteers recruited to monitor enforcement."
The crackdown on smoking has proceeded smoothly enough in hospitals, schools and governmental offices, but it's been harder to break the habit in restaurants, bars and other entertainment spots.
"We are a smoke-free environment throughout," said Xu Zhuoru, who is in charge of the program at Jiading Central Hospital. "More than 10 smokers of our medical staff have vowed to quit smoking."
Li Suying, a volunteer who made unannounced visits to 230 smoke-free venues in the district, said 12 broke the rule by providing ashtrays for the public.
"Normally, we don't try to dissuade customers from smoking," said a restaurant employee on Wensu Road. "For one thing, we don't have any punitive powers, and for another, we don't want to scare business off."
He added, "some people do complain about sitting near smokers in our restaurant, but people rarely call the monitoring hotline number posted on the wall to report them."
Last April, Jiading Central Hospital set up an outpatient clinic for smoke-quitting, but in the last nine months it had only six patients and only four of them haven't smoked again till now.
Tu Chunlin, director of the hospital's respiratory department, said there's no easy way to give up the habit.
"It all depends on willpower,'' Tu said.
The number of people employed in smoke-free workplaces rose to 63 percent from 52 percent in the prior survey.
The report found that public awareness about no-smoking zones is on the rise, with about four-fifths of respondents saying they were aware of such bans.
Gong Yueliang, vice director of the district's Patriotic Health Campaign Office, credited the district's anti-smoking campaign with the reduction in the smoking rate.
"A smoking-control team involving 10 departments has inspected more than 1,400 smoke-free venues,'' Gong said. "Some 40,000 no-smoking signs have been posted and 1,046 volunteers recruited to monitor enforcement."
The crackdown on smoking has proceeded smoothly enough in hospitals, schools and governmental offices, but it's been harder to break the habit in restaurants, bars and other entertainment spots.
"We are a smoke-free environment throughout," said Xu Zhuoru, who is in charge of the program at Jiading Central Hospital. "More than 10 smokers of our medical staff have vowed to quit smoking."
Li Suying, a volunteer who made unannounced visits to 230 smoke-free venues in the district, said 12 broke the rule by providing ashtrays for the public.
"Normally, we don't try to dissuade customers from smoking," said a restaurant employee on Wensu Road. "For one thing, we don't have any punitive powers, and for another, we don't want to scare business off."
He added, "some people do complain about sitting near smokers in our restaurant, but people rarely call the monitoring hotline number posted on the wall to report them."
Last April, Jiading Central Hospital set up an outpatient clinic for smoke-quitting, but in the last nine months it had only six patients and only four of them haven't smoked again till now.
Tu Chunlin, director of the hospital's respiratory department, said there's no easy way to give up the habit.
"It all depends on willpower,'' Tu said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
