'Tobacco scientist should lose honor'
Source: Xinhua |
December 17, 2011, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
HEALTH experts have called for one of the country's elite academies to revoke the membership of a tobacco scientist whose major research, they claim, had a negative impact on the nation's health.
Xie Jianping, an academic with a tobacco research institute for China National Tobacco Corporation (China Tobacco), has been the subject of controversy since being honored with membership of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) on December 8.
Xie's major research focuses on low-tar and herbal cigarettes, which it is claimed are less harmful than conventional tobacco products, according to the website of Xie's institute.
"Xie's low-tar cigarette research was disastrous to China's tobacco control efforts. It was not a contribution to the nation," said Xu Guihua, deputy head of the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control.
"I urge the CAE to revoke Xie's academic membership."
She said her association has submitted a formal letter to the CAE, urging a review of Xie's research and other related studies on low-tar cigarettes as well as the termination of state funding for research which aims to promote tobacco products.
"Low-tar has become known as a popular promotional tool for tobacco companies," said Yang Gonghuan, head of the China Tobacco Control Office under Chinese Center for Diseases Control and Prevention.
"There is no safe level of tobacco consumption. Smokers are more likely to inhale deeper when they smoke low-tar cigarettes, actually increasing health risks."
Yang blamed tobacco companies' low-tar strategy for the 41.15 percent growth in cigarette sales in China between 2000 and 2010.
"It is a joke, just like honoring somebody with a top prize for researching medicines that can make humans immortal," said Ma Shaojun, a research fellow with ThinkTank Research Center, a non-governmental health group.
China is the world's largest cigarette consumer.
It has 300 million smokers, and more than 740 million non-smokers are regularly exposed to second-hand smoke, according to experts' estimates.
About 1.2 million people die of smoking-related illnesses in China each year.
Both Xie and the research institute of China Tobacco Xie worked with refused to comment.
Xie Jianping, an academic with a tobacco research institute for China National Tobacco Corporation (China Tobacco), has been the subject of controversy since being honored with membership of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) on December 8.
Xie's major research focuses on low-tar and herbal cigarettes, which it is claimed are less harmful than conventional tobacco products, according to the website of Xie's institute.
"Xie's low-tar cigarette research was disastrous to China's tobacco control efforts. It was not a contribution to the nation," said Xu Guihua, deputy head of the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control.
"I urge the CAE to revoke Xie's academic membership."
She said her association has submitted a formal letter to the CAE, urging a review of Xie's research and other related studies on low-tar cigarettes as well as the termination of state funding for research which aims to promote tobacco products.
"Low-tar has become known as a popular promotional tool for tobacco companies," said Yang Gonghuan, head of the China Tobacco Control Office under Chinese Center for Diseases Control and Prevention.
"There is no safe level of tobacco consumption. Smokers are more likely to inhale deeper when they smoke low-tar cigarettes, actually increasing health risks."
Yang blamed tobacco companies' low-tar strategy for the 41.15 percent growth in cigarette sales in China between 2000 and 2010.
"It is a joke, just like honoring somebody with a top prize for researching medicines that can make humans immortal," said Ma Shaojun, a research fellow with ThinkTank Research Center, a non-governmental health group.
China is the world's largest cigarette consumer.
It has 300 million smokers, and more than 740 million non-smokers are regularly exposed to second-hand smoke, according to experts' estimates.
About 1.2 million people die of smoking-related illnesses in China each year.
Both Xie and the research institute of China Tobacco Xie worked with refused to comment.
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