A survey conducted by the Tobacco Control Office of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, concluded that of 3,650 doctors above 23 percent of them smoke everyday, only about one percent lower than the average rate of the population.

Jiang Yuan, an official from the Tobacco Control Office says that they see doctors, teachers, and governmental officials as key targets of smoking control policies because the large number of smokers among them will make it hard to stop common people from smoking.

The Chinese National Health Ministry has issued the first batch of national No-smoking hospitals including Beijing Red Cross Chaoyang Hospital and Beijing Hospital.

In recent years, about one million people die of smoking related diseases every year in China. Without control, two million smokers are expected to die every year in 2025, with half of them aged between 35 to 69.

(CRI May 25, 2005)