JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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Comparative Study
A comparison of smoking patterns in the People's Republic of China with the United States. An impending health catastrophe in the middle kingdom.
Half of the global increase in tobacco use from 1976 to 1986 occurred in the People's Republic of China. In 1984, the first national smoking survey was conducted in China, involving over a half-million subjects. Sixty-one percent of Chinese males over age 15 smoke, with higher rates in all occupational groups than for corresponding groups in the United States. ⋯ Foreign tobacco companies are mounting massive production and advertising campaigns in China. Government health education programs lack funds to counter these influences with sustained and comprehensive educational and interventional campaigns. To avert an impending national health catastrophe, China must launch a comprehensive smoking-control initiative aimed at public education, cessation, and legislation and policy.