蓋茨基金會支持北京“無煙奧運”

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.

已正式退休的微軟集團創始人比爾•蓋茨日前從他的基金會劃撥13萬美元，以支持北京的“無煙奧運”。

目前任“比爾和梅林達•蓋茨基金會”聯合主席的蓋茨於上週三在紐約的一次新聞發佈會上説：“吸煙引發疾病這一問題並未引起十分廣泛的關注。目前不少美國人認識到了這一問題的嚴重性，但在中國就不一定了。”

基金會最近劃撥的資金將用於“禁煙運動”的宣傳廣告。

北京政府已承諾要實現“無煙奧運”。在下月即將開幕的奧運會期間，北京大多數室內公共場所、工作地點和露天觀眾席都將禁煙。

禁煙的主要目的是抑制人們吸煙的習慣。據悉中國有3.5億煙民。據世界衞生組織的數據顯示，吸煙所導致的醫療成本讓中國五千多萬人口陷入了貧困。

此外，衞生部的統計數據表明，中國每年約有一百萬人死於與吸煙有關的疾病。

蓋茨強調了教育在禁煙中的重要性。蓋茨已於6月正式退出微軟的日常管理，並將主要精力投入基金會。他將出席8月8日北京奧運會開幕式。

這位擁有億萬財富的慈善家説：“我們要讓中國早點認識到吸煙的危害，不要像我們一樣，等到富起來了才意識到這個問題。”

“希望中國在這個問題上能早點覺醒。”

蓋茨基金會表示，將在未來五年斥資1.25億美元（在發展中國家）推廣禁煙計劃，中國也將成為這項新計劃的一部分。這些資金將用於降低中國和印度等發展中國家的吸煙率，以及幫助非洲預防煙草氾濫。

蓋茨説：“吸煙所引發的疾病已逐漸成為發展中國家所面臨的最大健康威脅之一。慶幸的是，現在我們知道了該怎樣去挽救這些人的生命，而且我們付出的一些努力也正在發揮作用。”蓋茨基金會已與衞生部在艾滋病預防等其它公共衞生領域展開合作