The first MPOWER training ever held in China took place in Lanzhou on 23-29 August. The Union, which developed the workshop on key tobacco control measures, supported the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in conducting the training for 21 participants.

• M – Monitor tobacco use and prevention policies

• P – Protect people from tobacco smoke

• O – Offer help to quit tobacco use

• W – Warn about the dangers of tobacco

• E – Enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship

• R – Raise taxes on tobacco

Participants in the MPOWER training were project staff from the implementation institutions of the China CDC Seven Cities Project. This project seeks to improve national tobacco control coordination and policy implementation in line with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and promote smokefree environments in the cities of Harbin, Shenyang, Tianjin, Lanzhou, Nanchang, Chongqing, and Shenzhen, which include a total population of more than 78 million people. The China CDC Seven Cities Project is managed by The Union with funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies. Together with the faculty, they were welcomed to the workshop by the Vice Mayor of Lanzhou.

During the seven-day workshop, the participants developed action plans to consolidate and accelerate progress in making their cities 100% smokefree. At the conclusion, they said that even though their work focuses primarily on smokefree environments, it was extremely useful to have a holistic understanding of tobacco control policy, especially the areas of tobacco taxation, tobacco cessation (covered in O) and mass media campaigns (covered in W).

The tobacco epidemic is a growing problem in China, a country with more than 301 million smokers. Exposure to second-hand smoke is also extremely high among the nation’s non-smokers, with over 63% being exposed to tobacco smoke at work.

For more information about The Union’s tobacco control activities, please visit our website at www.tobaccofreeunion.org.