A SMOKING ban will be enforced at all of Shenzhen's public hospitals at the end of May, and in schools, office buildings and public transport terminals in December.

At a ceremony for a national program to create a "smoke-free environment" yesterday, Zhang Dan, vice chief of the city's health authority, said the city was working on detailed rules and would pass a law in two years to ensure the smoking ban could be enforced effectively.

Shenzhen was one of seven cities chosen by the country's center for disease control and prevention to implement the program, Yang Gonghuan, vice chief of the center, said.

"In the past, the so-called 'smoke-free' areas did not fully ban smoking. For example, there are areas for medical workers or teachers to smoke in hospitals and schools. But under this program, smoking rooms inside these premises will be banned, which means people will have to go outside to smoke," Yang said.

Besides the control measures, the city has set up a law enforcement department to help enforce the regulation, Yang said.

The city's health department will begin a citywide research program on smoking in preparation for the new law, said Xiong Jingfan, vice head of the Shenzhen Chronic Disease Control Center.

Shenzhen passed a regulation controlling smoking in 1998.

According to the old regulation, related departments should dissuade violators for a first offense and fine them 20 yuan (US$2.93) if they refuse to put out their cigarettes. However, in the past 12 years not a single person had been fined, according to the city's health authority.

"So we hope to set up a team to enforce the smoking ban," Xiong said.

According to research by the city's chronic disease control center in 2009, more than 42 percent of men and 1 percent of women in the city smoked, 4 percent more than in 1997. According to the same report, 44 percent of people had suffered from harm from second-hand smoke.

Source:Shenzhen Daily