Call for stricter curbs on Shanghai smokers

Smoking is still a problem in Shanghai's Internet bars, dance halls, restaurants and taxis, according to a survey on residents' understanding of the city's smoking-control laws.

Officials from the Shanghai Health Promotion Association, which is in charge of smoking control in the city, said it has talked to the police about stricter enforcement in Internet bars.

"Smoking control in dance halls, restaurants and taxis will also be tightened in accordance with this online survey, which is carried out by the association and the government-run Eastday.com," Tang Qiong, an association official, said yesterday.

The survey, the first of its kind in the city, involved 10,360 residents, 91.25 percent of whom said they were aware of Shanghai's ban on smoking in public venues which came into force in March 2010.

More than half of the respondents said they had noticed some improvements since the regulation took effect, but about 35.61 percent considered Internet bars the worst offenders, followed by dance halls (31.1 percent), restaurants (22.72 percent) and taxis (7.12 percent).

Residents said law enforcement was the key to improving the city's smoking control, while education on the law and on the harm caused by smoking was also important. More than 40 percent suggested the government should fine anyone breaking the law, rather than giving warnings.

"Police said they will include smoking-control monitoring in their regular safety checks on Internet bars and the cultural law enforcement authority will include smoking-control supervision on entertainment venues in its official performance evaluation system this year," Tang said, adding that the campaigns on restaurants and taxis were launched last year.

She said technology would be deployed in smoking-control campaigns.

Tang said: "Public health experts at Fudan University have started to install PM2.5 monitoring machines in 30 local Internet bars for scientific study and we will install more such machines to collect evidence and information for health education."

PM2.5 are fine particles 2.5 microns or less in diameter which can pose major health risks.

Research has shown that PM2.5 density is much higher in places with smokers compared to venues which are smoke-free.

Monitoring machines will also be installed in some taxis, officials said.

Smoking control needs the participation and support of the public, they said, and the survey found many residents were willing to get involved in promoting the ban by persuading their relatives and friends not to smoke at public venues and promote the health risks of smoking and passive smoking.