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At this year's Olympics, you can boot up, but don't light up: China's pledge to host a "smoke-free" Olympic games in Beijing has gotten a boost from former Microsoft executive and co-founder Bill Gates. Gates, who left Microsoft to work full-time for his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is spending $130,000 on anti-smoking advertisements that will appear at the games, which kick off August 8, according to China Daily. The Gates Foundation's latest anti-smoking campaign is part of the $125 million it has pledged over the next five years to fight smoking in places such as China, India, and Africa. Beijing has pledged a smoke-free Olympics, banning smoking from most indoor public spaces, workplaces and spectator areas of open-air stadiums for the duration of the games. More than 350 million people in China smoke, and about 1 million people die from smoking-related causes every year, according to the nation’s Ministry of Health.
(Photo courtesy of Microsoft)
