WHO Headquarter at Geneva, Switzerland
Smoke-free policies bring health benefits.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has announced that
the implementation of smoke-free
policies in many Western countries has reduced the prevalence of smoking
and had subsequent health benefits.
Furthermore, such smoking bans to have not had adverse financial effects
on the bar and restaurant industry,
it says.
Dr John Pierce (University of California, San Diego) and Dr Maria Leon(IARC,
Lyon, France) have prepared a special
report on the subject, published in the July 2008 issue of Lancet Oncology.
They showed that comprehensive
smoke-free-laws significantly reduce exposure to secondhand smoke, which
has been associated with undesirable
health outcomes. Studies of the effects of smoke-free- policies consistently
showed that passive smoking is reduced
by 80% to90% in high-exposure settings. In turn, this has had health benefits
in terms of a reduction in heart-
disease morbidity, a reduction in respiratory symptoms, and an expected
decline in lung cancer.
Tobacco industry tries to impede smoke-free policies.
The tobacco industries are trying to impede the introduction of smoke-free
policies. They have done this by, for
example, casting doubts on the adverse health effects associated with exposure
to secondhand smoke. Further,
cigarette firms will often try to promote alternatives to total smoking
bans, suggesting environments that
allow both smoking and smoke-free areas or encouraging other solutions
to smoking, such as ventilation, rather
than outright bans.
Source: Theheartorg. July 1, 2008.
Japan Tobacco Inc. insists to keep a smoking room in all public places,
including an airport terminal. The researchers
of the company propose the various separate smoking systems, like in the
terminal buildings in New Chitose Airport,
Hokkaido. There is no entrance and/or exit door at the smoking room. The
company claims tobacco smoke may not
flow into a passenger waiting lobby. They were tried every possible means
to oppose a total smoking ban.
No-smoking sign at WHO Headquarter at Geneva, Switzerland
WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic
I am speaking to you as the head of an agency described by the tobacco
industry as its biggest enemy. Today, we intend
to enhance that reputation.
The WHO Report on the world-wide tobacco epidemic is the most comprehensive
collection of data on tobacco use and
control measures ever assembled at the global level. It provides a benchmark
for now and a roadmap for the future.
The standardized country-by-country statistics tell us where we stand.
The tobacco epidemic is growing. It is shifting
towards developing countries, with tobacco use growing fastest in low-income
countries. The rise of tobacco use in girls
and young women is among the most ominous of recent trends.
The report pinpoints the factors behind these trends: the low-price of
tobacco products, aggressive marketing, lack of
awareness about the dangers, and inconsistent public policies to protect
citizens. The report also provides a roadmap. It
sets out a package of five cost-effective policy measures selected because
of their proven power to reduce tobacco use.
These are straightforward common-sense measures within the reach of every
country, regardless of income level.
Among them, increasing the price of tobacco through higher taxes is the
single most effective way to decrease consumption
and encourage tobacco users to quit. This measure can also operate as a
sustainable funding mechanism for governments
to continue their efforts in tobacco control. I would argue that these
measures are the silver bullets of preventive medicine.
Their power to prevent disease and death matches that of breakthrough drugs.
These measures work. The importance of their impact reflects the magnitude
of harm caused by tobacco. I am referring to
more than five million annual deaths globally, a figure that is expected
to surpass 8 million by 2030. By that year, 80% of
these deaths will be occurring in the developing world. As a global community,
we cannot allow this to happen.
The tobacco epidemic is entirely man-made, and it can be turned around
through the concerted efforts of governments
and civil society. Having said that, I want to remind governments in every
country of the range and force of counter-tactics
used by the tobacco industry- an industry that has much money and no qualms
about using it in the most devious ways
imaginable.
We have another powerful signal that the measures set out in the report
are effective. The tobacco industry has fought
tooth and nail to prevent or delay the introduction of each one.
Industry does not want higher taxes. Industry does not want graphic images
on packs. Industry does not want bans on
smoking in public places, bans on advertising, promotion, and sponsorship,
or help for the majority of smokers who want
to quit. Industry knows very well that these measures cut tobacco consumption
and shrink markets. That is exactly why we
are recommending them.
We are at the starting point with this roadmap. As the report reveals,
only 5% of the world population lives in countries
that have fully implemented any key-measures for reducing demand. This
gives you an idea of the potential. We have to
shrink tobacco markets, prevent disease, and save several million lives.
This is the kind of change that WHO and its partners
aim to fuel by issuing this report.
February 7, 2008, Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health
Organization
Tobacco taxes, smoking bans set to save millions of lives.
Anti-smoking measures, including higher taxes on tobacco products, bans
on adverts and controls on lighting up in public
places could prevent tens of millions of premature deaths across the world,
researchers said. Similar steps taken by Turkey,
Romania and 39 other countries between 2007 and 2010 were already saving
lives, the independent study published by
the World Health Organization (WHO) said. "If the attained by these
... countries were extended globally, tens of millions
of smoking-related deaths could be averted," Professor David Levy,
the study's lead author from Georgetown University
Medical Center in Washington, said in the WHO's monthly bulletin.
Wider use of the controls could also lead to lower health care costs and
higher birth weights for babies, he added. Tobacco-
control measures already introduced in the 41 countries, including Pakistan,
Argentina and Italy, were on track to persuade
an estimated 15 million people not to smoke, the study said. That would
prevent around 7.4 million smoking-related deaths
by 2050, it added.
The researchers found the most effective measures were increasing taxes
and banning smoking in offices, restaurants and
other public places. The first method would prevent 3.5 million smoking-attributable
deaths, while the second would prevent
2.5 million, they said. "If anything it is an under-estimate,"
Dr. Douglas Bettcher, director of WHO's department of non-
communicable diseases, told Reuters in an interview at his Geneva office.
It is a win-win situation for health and finance ministries to generate
revenues that have a major impact on improving health
and productivity," he added. Turkey's steps led to a sharp drop in
smoking rates to 41.5 percent among men in 2012 from
47.9 percent in 2008, he said. Six million people die every year from smoking,
and the toll is projected to rise to eight million
by 2030, according to WHO, a United Nations agency waging war on "WHO's
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control,
which came into force in 2005, lays down measures to curb smoking and tobacco
use.
About 175 countries have ratified the pact, shunned by others that are
home to large tobacco companies, including the United
States, Switzerland and Indonesia. Measures include raising taxes on tobacco
products to 75 percent of the final retail price,
smoke-free air policies, warnings on cigarette packages, bans on advertising,
promotion and sponsorship, and offering
treatments to kick the habit. "We know that in many poor countries,
the poor spend a lot of money on tobacco. They would
be able to use it for nutrition and education, which is a huge opportunity
cost," said Dr. Edouard Tursan d'Espaignet, from
WHO's Tobacco Free Initiative.
Source; Reuters, Jun 30, 2013
No-smoking sign seen at a restaurant in Burnaby, B.C.,Canada
Trains
Olympic Games and a restriction of smoking in a train by the host countries
| 1948 |
XIV |
 London (UK) |
| 1952 |
XV |
 Helsinki（Finland） Smoking is prohibited in a train. |
| 1956 |
XVI |
 Melbourne （Australia） Smoking is prohibited in a train.
 Stickholm（Sweden） Smoking is prohibited in a train. |
| 1960 |
XVII |
 Roma（Italy） Smoking is prohibited in a train. |
| 1964 |
XVIII |
 Tokyo（Japan） Smoking is allowed in a train. |
| 1968 |
XIX |
 Mexico City（Mexico） Inadequate information |
| 1972 |
XX |
 Munich（West Germany） Smoking is prohibited in a train. |
| 1976 |
XXI |
 Montral（Canada） Smoking is prohibited in a train. |
| 1980 |
XXII |
 Moscow（Soviet Union） Smoking is prohibited in a train. |
| 1984 |
XXIII |
 Los Angeles（United States） Smoking is prohibited in a train. |
| 1988 |
XXIV |
 Seoul（Korea） Smoking is prohibited in a train. |
| 1992 |
XXV |
 Barcelona（Spain） Smoking is prohibited in a train. |
| 1994 |
 Lillehammer（Norway） Smoking is prohibited in a train. |
| 1996 |
XXVI |
Atlanta（United State） Smoking is prohibited in a train. |
| 1998 |
Nagano（Japan） Smoking is allowed in a train. |
| 2000 |
XXVII |
Sydney（Australia） Smoking is prohibited in a train. |
| 2002 |
Salt Lake City（United State） Smoking is prohibited in a train. |
| 2004 |
XXVIII |
 Athenes（Greece） Smoking is prohibited in a train. |
| 2006 |
Turin（Italy） Smoking is prohibited in a train. |
| 2008 |
XXIX |
 Beijing（China） Smoking is prohibited in a train. |
| 2010 |
Vancouver（Canada） Smoking is prohibited in a train. |
| 2012 |
XXX |
London（UK） Smoking is prohibited in a train. |
| 2014 |
 Sochi（Russia） Smoking is prohibited in a train. |
| 2016 |
XXXI |
 Rio de Janeiro（Brazil） Smoking is prohibited in a train. |
| 2018 |
Pyengchang County（Korea） Smoking is prohibited in a train. |
| 2020 |
XXXII |
Tokyo（Japan） Smoking is allowed in a train. |
| 2022 |
Beijing（China） Smoking is prohibited in a train. |
| 2024 |
XXXII |
 Paris（France） Smoking is prohibited in a train. |
| 2028 |
XXVIIII |
Los Angeles（USA） Smoking is prohibited in a train. |
★This table shows the smoking ban in a train at the Olympic host countries
in and after July 2014.
China Government charges 2,000 Yuan for a violation of smoking restriction
in a high-speed train.
In UK, a penalty of the maximum 200 pounds is applied for a smoking at
a smoke-free designated vehicle.
Japanese Government admit to installing a smoking booth in all trains to
support smoking act.
Smoking Regulation Awareness Survey in Japan
Do you support the indoor total smoking ban?
Smoking should be prohibited in all indoor public space 83.7%
The individual firms select the state of smoking restriction and show the
outcome in the entrance 9.2%
A smoking-space separation in a facility 5.5%
Gender display of voters: Male, 61.8%, Female 36.6%
Source: Asahi Shimbun Awareness Survey on smoking regulation performed
in April 2017.
Smoking Rate Investigation in Japan
Overall smoking rate: 17.9% of the total population in Japan
Gender display: Male, 27.8%, Year-on-year 0.4% decrease
Female 8.7% Year-on-year 0.3% decrease
Source. JT data May 2018
US: Overall 15.5% (Gender display: Male, 17.5%, Female 13.5%) in 2016
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
How to protect yourself from toxic tobacco smoke when you use a restaurant
in Japan.
Tokyo International Airport has 69 smoking booths or rooms: the largest number among airports in the world.
Superexpress train, shinkansen, bound for Kyoto runs, with a smoking car
or a vehicle with the booth for smokers.
All sleeper-trains in Japan are connecting a smoking vehicle.
Department of Health, Labor and Welfare announced to assist an establishment
of
indoor smoking room in restaurant and hotels, and will increase the financial
support rate
from the present 25% to50% of the whole construction fee in 2013.
Japan Tobacco Inc. is trying to brainwashing Japanese people, using TV
commercial.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
The worst anti-smoking measures have announced by Japanese Government in
2018.
Olympic healthy sports environment is frustrating.
A new proposal about smoking regulation by the Health Ministry of Japan
in January 2018:
1. A smoking booth is allowed in a large-sized restaurant and bar.
2. Smoking is freely allowed in small-sized restaurant and bar when 'smoking
sign' is posted
at the entrance into the facility.
3. How to classify is undetermined. Members of Liberal-Democratic Party (
Prime minister Abe,
Minister of Finance, Aso, etc.)
are requesting the line of 150sqm. If so, about 90 % of eating places s
are included and,
in almost in all restaurants, smoking is allowed.
This appeared to be the worst anti-smoking measure in the World, neglecting
the WHO and
IOC agreements.
January 2018 Junhaku Miyamoto, M.D.,PhD.
Political Background:
In June 2017, the former Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Shiozaki
has said that the anti-smoke law should not
be ashamed before the world. The minister stressed that many citizens still
suffer serious second-hand smoke in public
facilities, such as restaurants and workplaces. He also said,' For the
2020 Tokyo-Olympic, we are responsible for
succeeding the tradition of the Olympic without tobacco.
If a restricted exception was set up at a small-scale restaurant, the Minister
said that the principles and exceptions would
reserve and in most restaurants and bars, and the user can put a cigarette
at a food-serving shop.
The flow of politics has changed greatly toward unfavorable direction,
in August 2017. Prime Minister Abe and Finance
Minister, Aso dismissed Minister Shiozaki, because he disagreed to a request
of LDP members who admit smoking in
the restaurant and bars. As a result, the Tobacco Chairperson of LDP was
nominated as a Minisiter in
demand of Tokyo Olympic Games. He is the brother in law of Finance Minister
Aso. At the same time, Representative
Kato, who claims a separate smoking booth in a restaurant, was newly appointed
as the next Minister of Health.
日本語
「屋内全面禁煙の法制化を」受動喫煙防止でＷＨＯが各国政府に勧告
2007年7月執筆 2008年2月加筆 2009年7月加筆 2009年12月英文加筆 2013年3月加筆 2018年7月加筆
日本タバコフリー学会顧問 禁煙席ネット 医学博士 宮本順伯
This article was written in July 2007 and finally revised in July 2018,
by Junhaku Miyamoto, M.D.,PhD.
All photographs were taken by Junhaku Miyamoto, M.D.,PhD.
