AGAINST

Liu Yang

Rednet.cn

Considering the current situation of China's health insurance system, I don't think this is the best way to deal with smoking.

The government should encourage people to quit smoking. But forcing the costs of quitting smoking on the current incomplete basic medical insurance system will not only impose heavy burdens on the system, but also restrict its future functioning. Establishing a special fund jointly sponsored by the medical system, the government and tobacco producers is the fundamental way to tackle the issue.

Tobacco producers have to be involved in the anti-smoking efforts. They should donate funds based on sales and profits. By doing so, pressure on the medical insurance system will be relieved and the goal of tobacco control will also be realized as the running costs of tobacco producers are increased, with profits shrinking at the same time.

The government can provide subsidies to encourage anti-smoking research and campaigns promoting the public's awareness of quitting smoking.

Chen Yue

Caixun.com

I don't think it is the best time to carry out this proposal as the current medical insurance system is not equipped with sufficient funds and is unable to afford the high costs.

Currently the medical insurance system has not covered all of the basic necessary drugs, or only covers some drugs in part. That people have difficulty in getting proper medical treatment because the high price of drugs is still an urgent problem. Compared with smokers, seniors and children are groups that need more care from the system. Their access to basic medical insurance should be firstly guaranteed.

People can choose whether to smoke or not. But disease is indiscriminate. It is unfair to pay for the smokers' bad habits with health insurance funds donated by non-smokers.

Wang Kun

Freelancer

There are only three international pharmaceutical giants that are able to currently produce anti-smoking drugs. The costs of the drugs for a course of treatment (six months) could reach 3,300 yuan ($523). Taking into account the number of smokers in China, it will be a huge burden on the medical insurance system. And whether the drugs will eliminate smokers' reliance on tobacco is unpredictable. It seems that only the pharmaceutical giants will benefit if the proposal is implemented.

Whether one can successfully quit smoking depends largely on his or her determination. And it has been proved by researches. For example, people in their 60s are most likely to successfully quit smoking, because they don't want grandsons or granddaughters to inhale secondhand smoke.