China has urged all hospitals to ban smoking by 2011, state media said Thursday, a move expected to crimp the habits of Chinese doctors, more than half of whom smoke.
China has urged all hospitals to ban smoking by 2011, state media said Thursday, a move expected to crimp the habits of Chinese doctors, more than half of whom smoke.
The order is the latest step by authorities, anxious about a ticking medical time bomb, to get people to kick the habit in a nation that has more than 350 million smokers.
Health Hazards of Smoking Cigarettes
Smoking causes many diseases and affects the overall health of smokers.
Smoking causes many diseases and affects the overall health of smokers.
At least half of all medical institutions should be smoke-free by 2010, it said.
Just 20 Chinese hospitals had been certified smoke-free, it quoted an official from the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control as saying.
Smoking Risk Calculator
Do you smoke cigarettes daily? Use medindia smoking risk calculator and calculate your reduced Life Span due to Smoking.
Do you smoke cigarettes daily? Use medindia smoking risk calculator and calculate your reduced Life Span due to Smoking.
About 56.8 percent of male doctors in China smoke, the highest such rate in the world, the China Daily newspaper said in March, citing the China Preventive Medicine Association (CPMA).
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China Urges Male Doctors To Quit Smoking
More than half of all male doctors in China smoke, but the government is now trying harder to get them to kick the habit in order to set an example for others, state media reported Tuesday.
More than half of all male doctors in China smoke, but the government is now trying harder to get them to kick the habit in order to set an example for others, state media reported Tuesday.
A report published in Britain's The Lancet medical journal late last year said "if present smoking rates continue, 100 million Chinese men will die between 2000 and 2050" of tobacco-related diseases.
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Smoke-free Hospitals Still a Pipe Dream
Smoking is still prevalent in hospitals, even by staff in uniform, despite smoke-free policies that have been introduced at all NHS Hospital Trusts.
Smoking is still prevalent in hospitals, even by staff in uniform, despite smoke-free policies that have been introduced at all NHS Hospital Trusts.
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