XN000022-1982-07-14 — Page 12

WEDNESDAY, JULY 14, 1982

-

10

HEAVY TOLL FROM LUNG CANCER

****

LUNG CANCER HAS TAKEN A HEAVY TOLL IN HONG KONG OVER THE LAST 12 YEARS, WITH THE NUMBER OF VICTIMS RISING BY 132 PER CENT FROM 786 IN 1970 TO 1 826 LAST YEAR, THE SECRETARY FOR SOCIAL SERVICES, THE HON ERIC HO DISCLOSED TODAY (WEDNESDAY).

+EVEN ALLOWING FOR OUR INCREASE IN POPULATION, LUNG CANCER DEATHS PER 100 000 POPULATION ROSE FROM 19.9 IN 1970 TO 35.4 IN 1981, AN INCREASE OF 78 PER CENT, MR HO WARNED IN MOVING THE SECOND READING OF THE SMOKING (PUBLIC HEALTH) BILL 1982 AT THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

HE SAID WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION STUDIES SHOWED THAT IN COMMUNITIES WHERE SMOKING WAS WIDESPREAD, THE HABIT WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR 90 PER CENT OF LUNG CANCER DEATHS, 75 PER CENT OF BRONCHITIS DEATHS, AND 25 PER CENT OF ISCHAEMIC HEART DEATHS.

+IN ACTUARIAL TERMS, THE RISK OF A SMOKER DYING BEFORE THE AGE OF 65 IS ONE AND A HALF TIMES TO TWICE AS GREAT AS FOR A NON-SMOKER.

+ALL THESE FACTORS POINT TO SMOKING AS THE MAJOR PREVENTABLE CAUSE OF MORTALITY AND ILL HEALTH, HE SAID,

ON THE RISKS OF +PASSIVE SMOKING+, MR HO NOTED THAT MEDICAL STUDIES HAD INDICATED THAT SMALL BABIES HAD A HIGHER RISK OF PNEUMONIA AND BRONCHITIS WHEN THEIR PARENTS WERE SMOKERS.

THE STUDIES ALSO SHOWED THAT MANY PEOPLE WITH ASTHMA, ALLERGIES OR CHEST COMPLAINTS SUFFERED ACUTE DISCOMFORT FROM PIPE, CIGAR OR CIGARETTE SMOKE.

THE MAJORITY OF NON-SMOKERS IN HONG KONG

ABOUT FOUR-FIFTHS

OF ITS POPULATION FOUND SMOKE-LADEN ATMOSPHERE UNPLEASANT, MR HO POINTED OUT.

A PUBLIC OPINION SURVEY IN HONG KONG COMMISSIONED BY THE GOVERNMENT IN 1981 INDICATED THAT MORE THAN HALF OF THOSE WHO EXPRESSED A VIEW FELT THAT THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD ACT TO PROTECT NON-SMOKERS' INTERESTS.

+IN ADDITION, THERE WAS GENERAL SUPPORT FOR HEALTH WARNINGS ON CIGARETTE PACKETS AND ADVERTISEMENTS, FOR THE BANNING OF SMOKING IN ENCLOSED PUBLIC PLACES AND FOR FURTHER CONTROLS ON CIGARETTE ADVERTISING ON TELEVISION, MR HO SAID.

+THE BILL BEFORE COUNCIL IS A PACKAGE OF THESE MEASURES WHICH I BELIEVE WILL PROVE EFFECTIVE,+ HE SAID.

DEBATE ON THE BILL WAS ADJOURNED.

/11