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China And The Toll Of Smoking

Decent Essays

Smoking: The Effects on Health and on a Government
Smoking, in the United States has become more of a social taboo in the efforts to decrease cigarette use and prevent the negative health factors associated with it. Still today approximately 5 million deaths are caused by cancer, with the highest occurrence of death in China. China has a large majority of the world’s smokers, and there may be several underlying reasons why. The article, “China and the Toll of Smoking,” written by The Editorial Board of the New York Times embodies several concepts of cultural anthropology. The economic power tobacco companies have over the Chinese government and the globalization of tobacco companies that want to gain profits in China have led to violations of informed consent because Chinese citizens are not …show more content…

China has the largest population of smokers and this may be because the citizens of China are unaware of the negative effects cigarette use has on one’s health. Despite external intervention by the World Health Organization, China has neglected to place warning labels on cigarette packages. I believe this is because of the power the Chinese tobacco companies have over the government. Globalization and the cigarette trade with Japan Tobacco may have also contributed to the misinformed Chinese populous. It has been stated that money is the root of all evil, and in this case, the economic benefits are outweighing the health of Chinese citizens. “…1 billion tobacco-related deaths are predicted to occur during the 21st century” (He et. all 2010). These lives lost due to tobacco use will continue to exist and may increase. The only way to reduce these alarming statistics is for the Chinese government and governments around the world to begin informing their citizens of the dangers of

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