China is the leading producer of tobacco in the world, as well as home to one-third of the world’s population of smokers. With China’s growing status in the first world, the country has gained many of the first world problems effecting the entire population. Along with the problems of the first world, is large percentage of Chinese citizens who smoke and as a result develop non-communicable diseases. “Tobacco use is estimated to cause 35% of all cancers, 33% of all heart attacks and strokes, and 90% of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, including emphysema. Smokers who do not quit by age 35 have a 50% chance of dying from a tobacco-related disease.
Their life expectancy is 8 years less than those who have never smoked” (Anczak 2003). About 1 in every 6 deaths caused by tobacco usage, with an emphasis on cigarette smoking, worldwide will be a citizen of China. This paper will address interventions coming in the form of global policy and advocacy.The goal of the Red Cross Society funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is to make the citizens of China, both smokers and nonsmokers, realize that smoking is unacceptable and undesirable. In partnership with the Bloomberg Initiative, efforts have been made to present policymakers and advocates with evidence that will support governmental changes (Gates Foundation 2012). Additional efforts include “global adult and youth tobacco surveys, a series of country-specific papers detailing the economic impact of tobacco and tobacco taxation, and research on tobacco industry marketing strategies, cigarette smuggling, and tobacco policy effectiveness” (Gates Foundation 2012).
These programs are funded through advocates who are provided with grants that contribute to research; which a. .cbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1069046/ .
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 2012. 2012 Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation AnnualReport. Retrieved October 20, 2014. file:///C:/Users/TaCora/Downloads/2012_Gates_Foundation_Annual_Report.pdf .
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 2012. Tobacco Control Strategy Overview. Retrieved October 18,2014. http://www.gatesfoundation.
org/What-We-Do/Global-Policy/Tobacco-Control .Kim SS, Chen W, Kolodziej M, Wang X, Wang VJ, Ziedonis D. A systematic review of smoking cessation intervention studies in China. Nicotine and Tobacco Research 2012; 14(8): 891-899. PubMed http://www.ncbi.
nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0052099/ .World Health Organization. 2013. WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2013 Country profile: China.
Retrieved October 29, 2014. http://www.who.int/tobacco/surveillance/policy/country_profile/chn.pdf?ua=1 .
