Page 9 - TAIWAN TOBACCO CONTROL ANNUAL REPORT 2019

Foreword Preventing Tobacco Hazards to Maintain Citizens' Health Taiwan's Tobacco Hazard Prevention Performance Garners International Recognition Exceptional Performance in Tobacco Hazard Promotion – Taiwan Awarded the Highest Grade by 6 International Indicators Smoking kills at least 27,000 people every year in Taiwan, wreaking havoc among smokers, their families and society. Since the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act was amended in 2009, the smoking rate among adults has dropped from 21.9% in 2008 to 13% in 2018, while the rise smoking rate among youths has been reversed, now showing a declining trend. For instance, the smoking rate among junior high school students has dropped from 7.8% before the amendment to 2.8% in 2018, while the smoking rate among senior high school and vocational school students has decreased from 14.8% to 8% in 2018. According to the World Health Organization (WHO)'s MPWOER strategy, Taiwan's tobacco hazard prevention efforts have achieved the highest grade across 6 indicators: Monitoring, Adult daily smoking prevalence, Protecting people from tobacco smoke, Offering help to quit tobacco use, Warning about dangers of tobacco, Enforcing bans on tobacco advertising promotion and sponsorship. The data indicates that the country has achieved the highest standards stipulated by the WHO in areas including smoking rate monitoring, enforcement of non-smoking environment- related laws, smoking cessation service 2.0, tobacco product hazard warning, and the banning of tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship. Eliminating Tobacco Hazards – Continuing to Promote Tobacco Hazard Prevention Reinforcing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and reducing the consumption of tobacco products will help to achieve the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals. Since promoting tobacco hazard prevention will be able to break the vicious cycle of poverty, terminate hunger, facilitate the sustainable development of agriculture and economy, as well as combat global warming, the Health Promotion Administration has vigorously pushed for tobacco hazard prevention via inter-departmental collaboration within the government, private organizations, industry, and public participation. For instance, it has implemented diverse services including the banning of smoking on sidewalks around schools and tobacco advertising, as well as the promotion of tobacco hazard prevention education, toll-free tobacco cessation hotline and smoking cessation therapy. The aim is to decrease the number of smokers, increase the number of non-smokers and prevent the hazards of second and third-hand smoke. 7