Gates' foundation aids smoking ban for Games

The retired co-founder of computer giant Microsoft, Bill Gates, has earmarked $130,000 from his foundation to support a "smoke-free Olympics".

"Awareness of the disease burden that smoking causes is not very widespread. I'd say most people in the US know it, but in China, that's not the case," Gates, who co-chairs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said at a press conference in New York City on Wednesday.

The funds from the foundation's latest commitment are expected to go toward advertisements in an anti-smoking campaign.

Beijing has pledged a smoke-free Games, banning smoking from most indoor public spaces, workplaces and spectator areas of open-air stadiums during the Games next month.

The anti-smoking drive is aimed at curbing a habit that reportedly affects more than 350 million people in the country. Medical costs from smoking also impoverish more than 50 million people in China, figures from the World Health Organization have showed.

Similarly, about 1 million people die from smoking-related causes every year, statistics from Ministry of Health have showed.

Gates, who stepped down from Microsoft in June to work full time at the foundation and is scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympics on Aug 8, highlighted education as a weapon in the fight against smoking.

"We've got to make sure that we don't wait until China gets as rich as we did before we woke up and changed how we thought about smoking," the billionaire philanthropist said.

"We want that enlightenment to come to China early on."

His foundation's latest efforts in China are part of the $125 million it has pledged over the next five years to fight smoking, where the funds will be used to support efforts to cut high rates of tobacco use in countries such as China and India, as well as help prevent the tobacco epidemic from taking root in Africa.

"Tobacco-caused diseases have emerged as one of the greatest health challenges facing developing countries," Gates said. "The good news is, we know what it takes to save millions of lives, and where efforts exist, they are working," he said. The foundation has collaborated with the Health Ministry on other public health campaigns, including HIV prevention.

已正式退休的微软集团创始人比尔•盖茨日前从他的基金会划拨13万美元，以支持北京的“无烟奥运”。

目前任“比尔和梅林达•盖茨基金会”联合主席的盖茨于上周三在纽约的一次新闻发布会上说：“吸烟引发疾病这一问题并未引起十分广泛的关注。目前不少美国人认识到了这一问题的严重性，但在中国就不一定了。”

基金会最近划拨的资金将用于“禁烟运动”的宣传广告。

北京政府已承诺要实现“无烟奥运”。在下月即将开幕的奥运会期间，北京大多数室内公共场所、工作地点和露天观众席都将禁烟。

禁烟的主要目的是抑制人们吸烟的习惯。据悉中国有3.5亿烟民。据世界卫生组织的数据显示，吸烟所导致的医疗成本让中国五千多万人口陷入了贫困。

此外，卫生部的统计数据表明，中国每年约有一百万人死于与吸烟有关的疾病。

盖茨强调了教育在禁烟中的重要性。盖茨已于6月正式退出微软的日常管理，并将主要精力投入基金会。他将出席8月8日北京奥运会开幕式。

这位拥有亿万财富的慈善家说：“我们要让中国早点认识到吸烟的危害，不要像我们一样，等到富起来了才意识到这个问题。”

“希望中国在这个问题上能早点觉醒。”

盖茨基金会表示，将在未来五年斥资1.25亿美元（在发展中国家）推广禁烟计划，中国也将成为这项新计划的一部分。这些资金将用于降低中国和印度等发展中国家的吸烟率，以及帮助非洲预防烟草泛滥。

盖茨说：“吸烟所引发的疾病已逐渐成为发展中国家所面临的最大健康威胁之一。庆幸的是，现在我们知道了该怎样去挽救这些人的生命，而且我们付出的一些努力也正在发挥作用。”盖茨基金会已与卫生部在艾滋病预防等其它公共卫生领域展开合作。