The health ministry has decided to set a numerical target to lower the ratio of smokers as part of a national health campaign, officials said Sunday.
The ministry initially tried to use the campaign, which was launched in 2000, to promote a goal of halving the percentage of adult smokers and per capita cigarette consumption, before caving in to opposition from the tobacco industry.
However, emboldened by the recent trend toward nonsmoking and the separation of smoking and nonsmoking areas, the ministry has decided to introduce a concrete numerical target to cut back on smoking, which in turn would help curb cancer, strokes and other diseases, the officials said.
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