Shanghai actively works toward a smoke-free city

The smoking rate among local adults was 19.4 percent last year, the same as in 2021.

Since Shanghai passed an anti-smoking law in 2010, the smoking rate has dropped by 7.5 percentage points, the local health authority said on Wednesday, which was also World No Tobacco Day.

The authority also appealed for more awareness to help Shanghai become a smoke-free city.

About 36.8 percent of males and 0.8 percent of females smoke, while 1.1 percent use e-cigarettes, which is 0.4 percentage points lower than in 2021.

Because of tight legislation and education on the dangers of smoking, second-hand smoking exposure is 41.7 percent, down 9.8 percentage points from a year ago in 2022.

The rate of smokers planning to quit has also grown.

The Shanghai Health Commission said that smoking is banned in all interior public venues while encouraging people to only smoke in designated areas outside.

The number of people who violate the indoor smoking prohibition is also decreasing. Last year, the violation rate was 12.3 percent, 2.2 percent of indoor public places were discovered to be using e-cigarettes, and 98 percent of local inhabitants favor the entire indoor smoking ban.

In March 2010, Shanghai became the first city in the country to approve legislation forbidding indoor smoking. The law was revised in 2016 to ensure a total ban. Shanghai has forbidden the use of e-cigarettes in public indoor places since last October.

Officials said that all entities and individuals should take responsibility for controlling smoking. Residents can report tips and complaints to the government through various channels, such as the 12345 government-run hotline, Shanghai Fabu, the city's official government WeChat account, Jiankangyun, or Health Cloud.

On Wednesday, the Xuhui District health authority formed a Xuhui scientific health education partnership with Shanghai Chest Hospital and other facilities to raise understanding about the dangers of smoking, lung cancer prevention and control, and other general health awareness.

Intelligent medicine and multimedia will be used to provide population-wide and process-wide public education coverage to help residents develop an awareness of lung cancer prevention, screening, and treatment.