​The Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office (TACO) of the Department of Health (DH) today (April 11) organised a training workshop on Chinese medicine acupuncture service for smoking cessation to introduce the latest research and practical solutions to help smokers quit smoking through the use of acupuncture. The workshop attracted about 100 Chinese medicine (CM) practitioners from the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao.

     "Since being designated as a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Smoking Cessation and Treatment of Tobacco Dependence in 2012, the DH has become a regional hub for supporting training in smoking cessation treatment and services. Smoking cessation training is provided to healthcare professionals in Hong Kong, the Mainland and throughout the Western Pacific region on a regular basis. Today's training course covered smoking cessation counselling, the mechanism and treatment plans of CM smoking cessation, as well as practical demonstrations of acupuncture and ear point treatment techniques, helping frontline CM practitioners further enhance their knowledge and skills in delivering cessation treatments. About 80 frontline CM practitioners from the Mainland and Macao participated in the training course," the Head of TACO, Dr Fung Ying said.

     Dr Fung said that studies have shown that acupuncture, combined with ear point treatment and professional counselling, can effectively alleviate withdrawal symptoms and the short-term discomforts that may appear when smokers start to quit smoking, thus increasing the success rate of quitting smoking. The DH-subvented CM acupuncture smoking cessation service operated by Pok Oi Hospital has reported a quit rate of over 20 per cent (i.e. the percentage of service users who self-reported staying tobacco-free in the past seven days) at 52 weeks after the quit date, comparable to that of the smoking cessation services using nicotine replacement therapy.

     "The Government is introducing various tobacco control measures, including strengthening CM smoking cessation services. In this connection, the DH has subvented three more service providers (from one to four in total) this year to operate smoking cessation clinics focusing on counselling and acupuncture. The service attendance can be approximately doubled," Dr Fung said.

     Apart from organising CM smoking cessation service training courses, TACO also organises the Annual Training Programme on Tobacco Control for tobacco control workers in the Western Pacific region, and conducts smoking cessation treatment training courses to enhance the capability of local healthcare professionals in providing smoking cessation support.

     "The above training course and training programme will be held in the third and fourth quarters of this year respectively. TACO will deepen its co-operation and exchanges on tobacco control with the Mainland and other areas in the region, and will provide smoking cessation training and support to promote smoking cessation and safeguard public health," Dr Fung said.

     Members of the public can call 1833 183 or visit the smoking cessation thematic website for more information on quitting and the available support tools and services.

Ends/Friday, April 11, 2025
Issued at HKT 16:00

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