Tobacco Control and Lung Cancer Prevention in China - Abstract
In recent decades the age-specific mortalities of lung cancer in China have been increased to 9 times in men and women and it become one of the most important public health issues. The high prevalence of smoking in men and more than 70% of nonsmokers, both men and women, could be the biggest contributable factor for those consequences. While the abundant evidence on the health risks of exposure to smoking were available in both international and domestic studies the awareness on the health hazards from tobacco use were quit low in Chinese peoples, even in the health providers. Changes in the contents and the process of the tobacco products in Chinese tobacco product markets were accompanied by increased numbers of the lung cancer cases, increased adenocarcinoma and decreased squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, rather than reducing the overall lung cancer cases. Those suggested that comprehensive smoking-free policy should be implemented in all public places and the process of smoking-free legislation should put forward to create the legal environment and provide effective protection for reducing the incidence of lung cancer. Popularized health education should be also enhanced to raise the public awareness on smoking hazards.