Smoking
禁烟
Stub out that weed for ever
誓灭此毒草
Jul 24th 2008 | NEW YORK
From The Economist print edition
A powerful duo against a doughty foe
禁烟双雄
WHEN two of the world’s richest and mightiest men pledge to destroy an enemy, it is time to pay attention. Bill Gates, the former boss of Microsoft who now devotes all his time to his charitable foundation, travelled this week to New York, the city run by Michael Bloomberg, to join his fellow billionaire’s campaign to stamp out smoking.
世界上最富有、最强大的两人发誓联手破敌，一场好戏指日可待。比尔·盖茨，这位微软前老总如今全身心投入其名下的慈善基金的运作当中。本周，他来到纽约，准备投入市长迈克尔·布伦伯格的禁烟战争。
Have the two potentates met their match? Despite decades of work by health campaigners, more than one billion people still smoke today. Smoking kills up to half of those who fail to quit puffing, reducing their lives by an average of 10 to 15 years. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says more than 5m people a year die early from the effects (direct or indirect) of tobacco. That exceeds the combined toll of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
让我们来看看两位巨头的对手。尽管禁烟斗争已持续数十载，如今仍有超过十亿人吞云吐雾。高达半数吸烟人口死于这毒雾之中，吸烟者的人均寿命平均缩短10至15年。据世界卫生组织（WHO）统计，每年超过5百万人直接或间接因烟草而早亡。这个数目已超过因艾滋、肺结核及疟疾死亡的总人数。
Despite that dismal situation, there are three reasons to give the latest pair of campaigners a slim chance of success: money, methods and motivation. Messrs Gates and Bloomberg vowed to spend a combined total of $500m on discouraging the weed. Since Mr Bloomberg’s charity had already announced an award of $125m earlier, the new money pledged this week totalled a “mere” $375m: $250m from the mayor, and a fresh $125m from the software magnate’s philanthropic outfit.
情况堪忧，但两位英雄仍有三大法宝可冀一胜：资金、策略和外界激励。盖茨与布伦伯格先生已承诺为禁烟共同出资5亿美元。加之布伦伯格的慈善基金此前宣称的1.25亿美元，本周获得的资金投入共计”区区”3.75亿美元：市长大人的2.5亿，加上软件巨头慈善机构的1.25亿。
How will this cash be spent? In quite innovative ways, and that is a second reason for optimism. Hitherto, most anti-smoking funds have been channelled through a few large bureaucracies. But Mr Bloomberg’s charity wants to let a thousand flowers bloom: in other words, to lend a hand to many initiatives, both public and private, to see what works. There will be a competitive grant scheme for poor countries where the tobacco habit is spreading.
这些资金将如何分配？绝对不同以往。这也是获胜的第二大法宝。迄今为止，多数禁烟基金会的资金都来源于少数行政渠道。布伦伯格的慈善基金则欲达成百花齐放的效果：换言之，即不论是政府或私人计划，均为其提供援助，再观后效。这对于烟害肆虐的欠发达国家无疑是一个巨大支持。
The very fact that two giants are teaming up is a landmark in American philanthropy-comparable to Warren Buffett’s decision, two years ago, to put his fortune at the disposal of Mr Gates’s foundation. As part of their joint commitment, Mr Gates is giving some of his $125m directly to Mr Bloomberg’s charity; the rest will go to carefully monitored projects in India, China and other places where the number of smokers is rising relentlessly.
两位巨头的合作也是美国慈善史上的一大事件，足以媲美于两年前华伦·巴菲特将全部资产赠予盖茨基金的决定。作为共同承诺的一部分，盖茨将把1.25亿中的一部分直接转入布伦伯格慈善基金名下，剩余部分则将用于援助印度、中国等烟民数目激增的国家，扶持那些资金监管良好的项目。
Then there is motivation. There are other big players in this cause, and that should induce every new entrant to try bringing something fresh to the party. Earlier this year the WHO started a campaign against tobacco known as MPower. One of its selling points was that in contrast with many other projects, it had a fairly clear idea about what was needed. WHO experts have listed a series of tactics, ranging from aggressive public education to a rise in tobacco taxes, that deliver results. (Even if high taxes lead to some smuggling and diversion, studies done in Brazil, for example, show that fiscal measures do curb consumption.) The World Bank, which funded that research, is also thought to be ready to join the anti-smoking scrum after years of paying little attention.
第三大法宝是外界激励。禁烟阵营中不乏其他厉害角色，但两人的加入将为这个圈子注入新鲜力量。今年早些时候，世卫组织开始了一项新的禁烟计划，名为”M力量”。其不同于以往的卖点之一，就是该计划对于需要采取那些措施有着较为清晰的认识。世卫的专家们开列出一系列药方，比如推进公众教育、提高烟草税费等有效措施（高烟草税的确会导致走私或替代物滥用等情况，但经济手段对于遏制消费的确有效，这一点也在巴西的一项研究中得到佐证。）该研究也得到了世界银行的资助。外界认为，在对禁烟多年冷淡之后，世界银行也预备改变态度。
A crowded field, indeed. But having an extra $500m from two hard-driven billionaires surely won’t hurt.
队伍里人数确实不少。但有这样两个亿万富翁下定决心，并斥资5亿，也不失为一桩好事。
译者：houyhnhnm http://www.ecocn.org/forum/viewthread.php?tid=12948&pid=81737&page=1&extra=page%3D1#pid81737