Nearly 60,000 Chinese smokers joined International Quit & Win 2004, a smoking cessation contest initiated by Finland's National Public Health Institute. The four-week-long contest concludes on World No Tobacco Day, May 31.

"The number of Chinese participants this year almost doubled the figure of the competition in 2002, covering 25 provinces, prefectures and cities, including Henan and Yunnan-two of China's major tobacco-growing provinces," said Vice Minister of Health Jiang Zuojun.

Some 100 countries are participating in International Quit & Win 2004.

Participants must be adult daily smokers who have smoked for at least one year. If they can abstain from smoking and using tobacco products for a four-week period starting from May 2, they will be eligible to win a 10,000-yuan (US$1,209) national prize. Winners at the national level around the world are eligible to participate in drawings for the US$2,500 regional prizes or the US$10,000 international prize.

The world's biggest tobacco producer and consumer, China has approximately 300 million tobacco smokers.

Jiang said that every year nearly one million Chinese die of tobacco-related diseases, exceeding the total death toll from tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, confinement diseases, traffic accident and suicide.

"The task of tobacco control in China is immense and challenges are enormous," Jiang said.

China has been an active participant to the International Quit & Win since 1996.

In November last year, China signed the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the first public health treaty ever negotiated under the auspices of WHO.

"There are many items on the FCTC agenda that China has been implementing for quite a while, and others are gathering steam," said Henk Bekedam, WHO Representative in China. "WHO applauds China for such efforts, as the country continues along the path to ratification of the FCTC," he said.

The WHO official said the global tobacco epidemic including the scenario in China did not occur overnight. "But step by step, the situation can be addressed."

Fuzhou resident Zhao Jianguo is addressing his personal battle with smoking step by step. He has now gone three days without a cigarette.

For non-smokers, three days without smoking does not sound worth mentioning. But for heavy smokers, it is like being in hell.

"My reactions were so strong, I've never experienced this in my life," Zhao said in a telephone interview on Sunday after his triumph in a three-day contest to quit smoking.

A 45-year-old salesman with 30 years of smoking history, puffing on at least three packs a day, Zhao has already been suffering from heavy coughing in the mornings.

"I tried to quit four or five times on my own, but every time I ended up smoking even more than before," Zhao said.

This time, when Fuzhou announced its first contest to quit smoking in honor of World No Tobacco Day, Zhao signed up. He and three other heavy smokers were chosen to kick the habit in public view, spending three days in a transparent tent.

Less than 24 hours after the contest started on Thursday morning, he began to show symptoms such as drooling and shedding tears. Then he found he could not speak clearly: "Like I was drunk."

The second day he went to the lavatory five or six times, a significant change from his normal once-a-day visit. The third day he found himself sleepless.

The other three contestants were no better off. Lu Zhaohai woke at 5:00 AM on Friday. Unable to get back to sleep, he started doing push-ups to pass the time, according to a report from Southeast Express.

Zheng Hongying lost his appetite on the second day, and drank some beer instead.

When onlookers deliberately puffed smoke outside the tent, Miao Meiyu could not help searching for his own pocket for cigarettes, but to no avail.

Doctors said these are natural reactions. "The first three days are the most difficult period for smokers who quit," said Lin Pusheng, a doctor at a hospital in Fuzhou.

But they will be freed from the physical dependence for nicotine after the first three days. If they continue to avoid smoking for a month, they stand a good chance of quitting forever, Lin said.

The four contestants all went smoke-free for the full three days, and each collected prize money of 2,500 yuan (US$300) for his efforts.

"For me, the quitting process has just begun. I will hang on through the next week, and next month, until I quit smoking completely," Zhao said.

(China.org.cn, Xinhua News Agency & China Daily May 31, 2004)