A Brief Introduction
Chinese Association on Tobacco Control (CATC)
Chinese Association on Tobacco Control (CATC), originally named the Chinese Association on Smoking and Health which was changed on 21st June 2004 by the approval of Ministry of Civil Affairs, was established in February 1990, composed of the persons from various professions and services who are willing to work on tobacco control activities. It is a national academic mass organization on the non-profit basis, supervised and administrated by the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Civil Affairs in carrying out its professional activities.
This Association's objective is to unite extensively with local tobacco control organizations and voluntary workers of all sectors for participating and promoting the national tobacco control activities and the implement of FCTC in China. It shall abide by the constitution, law, legislation and policy of this country, and shall follow all standards of social morals and ethics.
Wu Jieping, the former Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, was the first President; another two Vice Chairmen of NPCSC - He Luli and Han Qide - and the Vice-chairperson of the CPPCC National Committee Qian Zhengying had been the Honorary President of CATC. Cao Ronggui, the former Vice Minister of Ministry of Health, was the President for the Second and Third Council, and Huang Jiefu, the current Vice Minister of Ministry of Health, is the current President for the Fourth Council of CATC.
Since established, CATC has made a great deal of achievements in terms of networking, scientific research, tobacco control activities and international exchanges. As early as in 1996, the first national investigation on the basic situation of smoking was conducted by CATC. And immediately in 1997, CATC successfully played host to the 10th World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Beijing with more than 1800 delegates form 114 countries or regions, especially the presence of China’s President Jing Zeming at that time at the opening ceremony. Meanwhile, CATC has been working hard to advance actively the implementation of FCTC in China and push forward the six strategies of MPOWER. By our effort, the Ministry of Civil Affairs canceled the Chinese Charity Award to six tobacco companies; Shanghai World Expo 2010 committee had retuned 200 million donations from tobacco companies and the 11th National Games committee returned 20 million RMB.
Moreover, CATC has been set up its effort to promote the establishment of national smoke-free hospitals, smoke-free schools, tobacco-free ads and tobacco-free films and TV shows. By now, the national standard for smoke-free hospitals has been set up; 12 million students from middle schools and elementary schools have been organized to sign up for “being a smoke-free generation” activities; 41 movie stars have been encouraged to give initiatives on smoke-free films.
At the same time, CATC has established the exchange platform for all the tobacco control specialists and experts. The first professional website and journal in the nation have been developed by CATC, and the annual system of cross-strait conference on tobacco control is also posted by CATC. CATC have held many other academic seminars or trainings, creating exchange opportunities for all the people who are willing to do tobacco control.
In order to make our voice louder, many Chinese celebrities are invited as CATC’s ambassadors, including famous singer Peng Liyuan, sports stars Yao Ming, Zhang Yining, Liu Xuan and other onstage star such as Jiang Kun, Pu Cunxi, Ju Ping and Yang Lan.