title: The role of cities in reducing smoking in China.
abstract: China is the epicenter of the global tobacco epidemic. China grows more tobacco, produces more cigarettes, makes more profits from tobacco and has more smokers than any other nation in the world. Approximately one million smokers in China die annually from diseases caused by smoking, and this estimate is expected to reach over two million by 2020. China cities have a unique opportunity and role to play in leading the tobacco control charge from the "bottom up". The Emory Global Health Institute-China Tobacco Control Partnership supported 17 cities to establish tobacco control programs aimed at changing social norms for tobacco use. Program assessments showed the Tobacco Free Cities grantees' progress in establishing tobacco control policies and raising public awareness through policies, programs and education activities have varied from modest to substantial. Lessons learned included the need for training and tailored technical support to build staff capacity and the importance of government and organizational support for tobacco control. Tobacco control, particularly in China, is complex, but the potential for significant public health impact is unparalleled. Cities have a critical role to play in changing social norms of tobacco use, and may be the driving force for social norm change related to tobacco use in China.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Georgia State University, P.O. Box 3995, GA 30302, USA. predmon@gsu.edu.
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Redmon
authors.affiliation: Global Health Institute, Emory University, 1599 Clifton Road NE, GA 30322, USA. jkoplan@emory.edu.
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Koplan
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Georgia State University, P.O. Box 3995, GA 30302, USA. meriksen@gsu.edu.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eriksen
authors.affiliation: Global Health Institute, Emory University, 1599 Clifton Road NE, GA 30322, USA. shuyang.li@emory.edu.
authors.forename: Shuyang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: ThinkTank Research Center for Health Development, Tian Bao Yuan Liu Li, Beijing 100176, China. wka2006@sina.com.
authors.forename: Wang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kean
mesh_terms: D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D002947:Cities; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011634:Public Health; D011640:Public Policy; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000639:trends; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution