Low-Tar Cigs and Secondhand Smoking Harmful

China's health authorities used a report published by the Ministry of Health on Wednesday to reiterate that low-tar cigarettes do not reduce harm caused by smoking and that more than 3 million Chinese will die annually from smoking by 2050 if no measures are taken. The majority of the public has the misconception that "low tar equals low harm," according to the report. It also said that cigarettes with added Chinese herbal medicine were equally harmful to health as ordinary cigarettes. According to the report, three-quarters of Chinese are not fully aware of the harm caused by smoking, and two-thirds do not know about the danger of being exposed to secondhand smoking. China is the largest tobacco producing and consuming country in the world, with more than 300 million smokers and another 740 million people suffering from secondhand smoking.

Ban on Tobacco Smoking in Jamaica

A proposed regulation, which will form part of the anticipated tobacco law, will see the banning of smoking at sporting venues, including Sabina Park and the National Stadium. The extent of the ban will depend on how public spaces are defined, according to Chief Medical Officer Dr Eva Lewis-Fuller, who took part in a Gleaner Editors’ Forum on tobacco, held at the newspaper’s central Kingston offices last week. “Some countries define an enclosed space, as any space that has two boundaries; it could be one wall and a roof or two walls,” Lewis-Fuller explained. “Therefore, the grandstand at the stadium would be defined as an enclosed space because it has a roof coming over and you have the back wall. The National Arena is definitely an enclosed space and grandstand at Sabina Park; they too can be defined as enclosed spaces because they have a roof covering and they have a back wall,” she added.