XN000022-1983-08-14 — Page 2

SUNDAY, AUGUST 14, 1903

1

A NON-SMOKING GENERATION FOR HONG KONG

****

THE PUBLIC WERE TODAY (SUNDAY) URGED TO WORK HARD TOWARDS THE GOAL OF PRODUCING IN HONG KONG A NON-SMOKING GENERATION - A GENERATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE WHO WILL GROW UP UNDERSTANDING THE DANGERS OF CIGARETTE SMOKING AND COMMITTED TO A SMOKE-FREE LIFE.

SPEAKING AT THE ANTI-SMOKING MASS RALLY IN VICTORIA PARK THIS AFTERNOON, DR HARRY FANG, UNOFFICIAL MEMBER OF THE EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE COUNCILS AND CHAIRMAN OF THE MEDICAL DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE POINTED OUT THAT THIS WAS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AIMS OF THE GOVERNMENT'S ANTI-SMOKING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN.

HE SAID, +SMOKING HAS BEEN REFERRED TO AS THE GREATEST SINGLE AVOIDABLE CAUSE OF DEATH IN THE COMMUNITY.+

IN 1982, CIGARETTE SMOKING WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR 1 766 LUNG CANCER DEATHS, 143 BRONCHITIS DEATHS AND 566 DEATHS FROM ISCHEMIC HEART DISEASE. THE TOTAL FIGURE OF 2 475 DEATHS IS MORE THAN FIVE TIMES THE NUMBER OF DEATHS FROM TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN THE YEAR.

+THERE IS NO LONGER ANY DOUBT ABOUT THE HEALTH HAZARDS OF CIGARETTE SMOKING, DR FANG SAID. +BUT THERE IS ALSO THE COST TO THE COMMUNITY IN TERMS OF LOST PRODUCTIVITY FROM SMOKING RELATED DISEASES, AND THE COST OF ACCIDENTS AND FIRES CAUSED BY SMOKING.+

HE STRESSED THAT THE TASK NOW WAS HOW TO SPREAD THE MESSAGES THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY: TO ENCOURAGE SMOKERS TO STOP SMOKING BOTH FOR THE SAKE OF THE IR OWN HEALTH AND THE HEALTH OF THOSE AROUND THEM TO RECOGNISE THAT NON-SMOKERS HAVE A RIGHT TO A SMOKE-FREE ATMOSPHERE AT HOME, IN PUBLIC PLACES AND ALSO AT WORK.

+MOST IMPORTANTLY, HE SAID, WE MUST AIM TO PREVENT OUR CHILDREN FROM STARTING TO SMOKE. WE CAN BEST DO THIS BY SETTING A GOOD EXAMPLE FOR THEM TO FOLLOW AND THIS IS SOMETHING I URGE ALL PARENTS TO DO.+

HE CONCLUDED HIS SPEECH ON THE FOLLOWING NOTE:

+LET US GET THE SMOKE OUT OUR LUNGS, OUT OF OUR EYES AND OUT OF OUR LIVES. AND LET US MAKE HONG KONG A HEALTHIER PLACE IN WHICH TO LIVE.+

ELABORATING ON THE HEALTH HAZARDS OF SMOKING, DR RUDY KHOO MEMBER OF THE ANTI-SMOKING PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN STEERING COMMITTEE AND CHAIRMAN OF THE CANCER EDUCATION SUB-COMMITTEE OF THE ANTI-CANCER SOCIETY EMPHASISED THAT SMOKING DEFINITELY AFFECTS A PERSON'S LIFE SPAN.

HE POINTED OUT THAT ACCORDING TO A STUDY IN THE UNITED STATES, THE AVERAGE LIFE SPAN OF A 25-YEAR-OLD MAN WHO SMOKES TWO PACKETS OF CIGARETTES PER DAY WOULD BE 8.3 YEARS SHORTER THAN A NON-SMOKER OF THE SAME AGE.

+SMOKING IS A MAJOR CAUSE OF LUNG CANCER, DR KHOO ADDED.

/DEATHS CAUSED