On March 3, 2009, Beijing witnessed the launching ceremony of "Beijing Global Health Partnership Smoke-free Hospital Project" to be initiated in seven local hospitals. The event, co-organized by Beijing Patriotic Health Campaign Committee (BPHCC) Office, Beijing Smoking & Health Assoication and Chinese Association on Tobacco Control (CATC), drew over 50 people including Cao Ronggui, CATC Director, Director of Chinese Hospital Association and former Deputy Minister of Health; CATC Deputy Director and Secetrary General Xu Guihua; full-time Deputy Director of BPHCC Sun Xianli, leaders from Beijing Municipal Health Bureau and seven participant hospitals, BPHCC branch office directors of four urban districts, as well as correspondents with roughly 10 media organizations

China is the world's largest tobacco producer, consumer and victim. According to statistics recently released by the Ministry of Health, China now has 270 million smokers. This gloomy situation has prompted the Chinese government to attach high-level importance to smoking control, which led to the signing of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (hereinafter referred to as "the Convention") with the World Health Organization in November 2003. The Convention came into effect in China in January 2006. In July 2007, the second WHO FCTC session was held, and Article 8 Elaboration of Guidelines for Implementation of the Convention, i.e. Protection from Exposure to Tobacco Smoke, was adopted. China is required, according to requirements of the Guidelines, to completely ban smoking in all indoor public places, indoor workplaces, public transport means, and other possible (outdoor or quasi-outdoor) public places. BPHCC, in line with the Convention and the objective of smoke-free Olympic Games, has proposed amendment of Regulations of Beijing Municipality on Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places, intending to expand the scope of smoke-free public places. On May 1, 2008, Beijing Municipal Government enacted No. 204 Government Decree, i.e. Provisions of Beijing Municipality on the Scope of Smoke-free Public Places, expanding the scope of complete ban to ten categories of public places, and adding a list of public places and workplaces under partial smoking ban. Implementation of the smoking ban has attracted widespread attention at home and abroad, serving as a strong impetus to the city in prohibiting smoking in public places and achieving the objective of smoke-free Olympic Games. of smoking doctors drops can the overall smoking prevalence be reduced. However, it has been found that only very few medical institutions have set up smoking cessation clinics and counseling hotlines. Smokers generally experience a series of adverse reactions during the smoking cessation process due to their dependence on nicotine contained in tobacco products. Without doctors' guidance and assistance, those who want to quit smoking would encounter countless problems in the process. And with their special identity and influence, smoking doctors exert a grossly negative impact on the public, and their act of smoking also indirectly promotes smoking, serving as a kind of advertising for tobacco companies. According to statistics, a smoking doctor can bring tobacco companies as much as 150,000 U.S. dollars of advertising value, and by giving a lecture on tobacco control, a doctor can save far more patients than all those lung cancer patients he/she saves in a life. Hence, many countries have adopted smoking ban among doctors and smoking control in hospitals as a pivotal part of tobacco control. In March 2008, the Ministry of Health and Office of the National Patriotic Health Campaign Committee jointly issued Criteria on Smoke-free Medical Institutions (Trial Measures) in a bid to regulate and redouble efforts in fostering smoke-free medical institutions, and prompt all medical institutions in China to achieve the goal of complete smoking ban in 2011. As of 2008, a total of 217 hospitals have been ranked as "Smoke-free Hospitals in Beijing". We will take the opportunity of fostering "National Smoke-free Hospitals" to further enhance smoking ban in hospitals in Beijing, and intensify tobacco control intervention among medical staff so as to promote the cause of citywide smoking ban.

Participant hospitals in this campaign include Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Xuanwu Hospital, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Beijing Tongren Hospital, and Fu-Xing Hospital Beijing Jishuitan Hospital. The seven hospitals, serving as representatives in the medical industry, will summarize new practices and experiences in the campaign. This foretells the fact that the campaign of smoke-free hospitals will be further promoted in the entire city, enabling more medical workers to take the initiative to join in tobacco control, serve as examples for ordinary citizens, and contribute their bit to a fresher future of more smoke-free hospitals.