Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | March 2014 18 terminal on an inspection tour last October to find people smoking everywhere. With a flock of bureaucrats and journalists at his heels he confronted one of the offenders, an elderly man, who promptly offered him a cigarette. Fifteen government departments are responsible for enforcing Guangzhou’s restrictions. The staff involved totals more than 2,700. Since the curbs were introduced 13 months ago, more than 120,000 checks have been conducted and more than 4,000 “rectification notices”issued. As of January, in a city where it’s estimated that more than one in five adults smoke, only one person and five companies have been fined. To date these have totaled 26,550 yuan, or a little over US$4,000. In 2008, with an eye on its Summer Olympics image, Beijing enacted a law requiring restaurants and bars to provide non-smoking sections and set a goal to ban smoking in all indoor spaces by 2010. Last year, with the games well back in the rearview mirror, the ban was postponed to 2015. CATC says that in five years the law has not resulted in a single fine. Xinhua reports that the National Health and Family Commission is now working on a law for all of China that spells out clear punishments. But anti-smoking advocates contend that until government breaks its dependence on the revenue from its own tobacco conglomerate, enforcement will continue to be lax. “China stands on its own in the magnitude of the problem,” said Fifteen government departments are responsible for enforcing Guangzhou’s smoking restrictions. Since they were introduced, more than 120,000 checks have been conducted and more than 4,000 “rectification notices” issued. As of January, in a city where it’s estimated that more than one in five adults smoke, only one person and five companies have been punished with fines. “China stands on its own in the magnitude of the problem. Unless there is change in China, we won’t proceed further in reducing the tobacco epidemic in the world.” — Dr Judith Mackay, senior advisor, World Lung Foundation Dr Judith Mackay, the senior advisor to the World Lung Foundation. “Unless there is change in China, we won’t proceed further in reducing the tobacco epidemic in the world.” The consequences are far-reaching, as she points out. “It’s a huge economic problem. There’s all these things ranging from medical and health care costs, the costs to the families, and there’s the cost of second-hand smoke.” All of which Macau and its people and those whose job it is to promote their welfare have only begun to tally. In Focus