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Following is a question by the Hon Lau Wong-fat and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, in the Legislative Council today (June 25):
Question:
Will the Government inform this Council whether it has conducted a survey to find out, among the persons confirmed to have contracted Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ("SARS") as at the 15th of this month, the respective numbers of those who have the habit of smoking or drinking, or both, and how the incidence rates of SARS among people with such habits compare with those without; if no survey has been conducted, whether it will conduct such a survey as soon as possible?
Reply:
The Department of Health (DH) conducted a survey on the smoking status of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) patients in mid-May 2003. Among the 1,088 patients who were aged 15 or above and responded to the survey, 210 (19.3%) were ever smokers. As regards smoking prevalence in the general population, surveys conducted by the Census and Statistics Department in 2000 showed that 18.2% of the general population aged 15 or above were ever smokers. However, these two sets of figures cannot be meaningfully compared because the population profiles were different. Among the 1,088 SARS patients mentioned above, 275 (25.3%) were healthcare workers who were known to have very low smoking prevalence. After excluding healthcare workers, 25.2% of SARS patients aged 15 or above were ever smokers.
Based on the same survey of SARS patients, the mortality rate of ever smokers was 20.0% but that for non-smokers was only 9.7%.
There is no epidemiological information on the risk of contracting SARS in alcoholics. As such, we have no plan to conduct a survey on the drinking habits of SARS patients.
End/Wednesday, June 25, 2003
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