The Department of Health (DH) today (May 23) announced a series of promotional activities for the Quit in June campaign in response to World No Tobacco Day on May 31 and to encourage smokers to quit smoking in order to reduce their risk of tobacco-related diseases and deaths.

     The World Health Organization designates May 31 as World No Tobacco Day. The theme for this year is "Unmasking the appeal: Exposing industry tactics on tobacco and nicotine products", which reveals the tactics used by the tobacco industries to make their harmful tobacco products more appealing.

     "The DH launched the Quit in June campaign in 2021 to promote smoking cessation services. Starting in 2022, one-week trial packs of smoking cessation drugs (nicotine replacement therapy) have been offered to smokers free of charge to alleviate withdrawal symptoms and increase the success rate of quitting smoking. Last year (2024), the DH distributed over 3 000 trial packs throughout Hong Kong. The trial packs were well received by smokers who wanted to quit smoking. In view of this, the DH will continue to offer the trial packs this year through more than 250 community pharmacies, smoking cessation clinics, District Health Centres and District Health Centre Expresses, as well as DH clinics to help smokers quit," the Head of the Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office of the DH, Dr Manny Lam, said.

     "Furthermore, the DH introduced a trial programme under the campaign on the use of Chinese medicine (CM) ear points patches for smoking cessation last year, which involves the application of ear points patches on the surface of the smoker's ear(s) to stimulate relevant ear points. Most of the smokers who have tried the ear points patches considered that they can help alleviate the symptoms of addiction, and the results were satisfactory. In view of this, the DH will continue to distribute the CM ear points patches this year and will expand to more than 50 CM clinics operated by Pok Oi Hospital, Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, and United Christian Nethersole Community Health Service across the territory, covering more than 200 locations in total," he added.  

     Starting from May 30, smokers who wish to quit smoking can go to the locations displaying the orange stickers for the CM ear points patches, or the green stickers for the one-week smoking cessation drugs trial pack. After a brief assessment, they can scan the QR code with the "Quit Smoking App" and receive free CM ear points patches or a one-week trial pack of smoking cessation drugs.

     "Apart from the integrated Smoking Cessation Hotline, which was set up by the DH to handle general enquiries and provide professional counselling on smoking cessation, there are also a number of smoking cessation clinics and District Health Centres/District Health Centre Expresses throughout Hong Kong that provide free smoking cessation services. People who wish to quit smoking can make an appointment at any time. They may also make use of the mail-to-quit service to receive free cessation medications by post and follow-up phone calls, which meet the needs of different people. Moreover, the DH has subvented three more CM smoking cessation service providers (increasing from one to four) this year to operate smoking cessation clinics with an emphasis on counselling and acupuncture. It is expected that the number of service users will double. Quitting smoking at any age brings immediate and long-term health benefits. Smokers who stay tobacco-free for four weeks are five times more likely to quit for good. For the health of yourself and your family, don't hesitate. Don't make any more excuses to postpone quitting. Make a resolution to start quitting smoking in June," Dr Lam added.

     The DH has started broadcasting "We are all in this together. Quit Now" television and radio announcements in the public interest and has stepped up promotion through public transportation networks and social media to encourage smokers to quit and support them during Smoke-Free Month.

     Members of the public can call 1833 183 or visit the smoking cessation thematic website (www.livetobaccofree.hk) for more information on quitting and the available supporting tools and services. They can also download the "Quit Smoking App" to keep track of their progress in quitting and obtain tips on dealing with cravings to stay tobacco-free.

Ends/Friday, May 23, 2025
Issued at HKT 15:25

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