International Tobacco Intervention

Treatment Efforts by the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health

Cessation Efforts in Hong Kong

Translation: "TOBACCO KILLS - DON'T BE DUPED"

To begin with, we have not been doing a lot in helping smokers to quit in Hong Kong. Our hospitals and clinics do run, from time to time, smoking cessation seminars and classes for smokers who intend to stop smoking. But they are organized on a piece-meal manner, without co-ordination and publicity to attract the intended smokers.

Whilst the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health (COSH) does not provide direct smoking cessation services for the smokers, we do organize an annual quit campaign to arouse the awareness of the community, and encourage them to quit smoking. We normally do this through publicity in the media (radio, newspapers, magazines), community involvement activities (e.g. road show at shopping malls), and cessation classes we urge the government clinics to organize during the campaign period.

Every year, we have a special theme for the quit campaign. In April this year, we organised a "Quit and Win" contest as part of our campaign programs. A cluster of other events, e.g. roadshows, seminars, competitions were also organized on a district basis to attract local residents.

In the recent two years, we invited overseas experts to help us conduct seminars for medical professionals, i.e. doctors, dentists, nurses and pharmacists to equip them with basic knowledge and counseling skill. The idea is to make use of these professional people to encourage and give advice to the many smokers who often come to their contact to quit smoking.

To strengthen our smoking cessation support services, we will set up a Smoking Cessation Health Center in August this year on an experimental basis. We intend to see how effective we can help smokers cease smoking through individual counseling, and through NRT treatment on individuals' need basis. We take this as a research project that will last for 12 months initially. We will suggest our Government to continue running the Center if that has been proved effective.

At present, we do not have any smoking cessation guidelines in Hong Kong but we are in the process of preparing one.