The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry is planning to create a new post specializing in smoking-related issues before a global antismoking treaty takes effect in February, officials said Saturday.
They said the ministry is acting because officials specializing in tobacco control have been playing increasing bigger roles in the World Health Organization, many European countries and in the United States.
The post will be created within a division specializing in lifestyle-related diseases, the officials said, and it will be held by a medical doctor.