XN000022-1983-12-02 — Page 16

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1983

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QUIT NOW, SMOKERS ARE TOLD

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THE MESSAGE WAS QUITE CLEAR AT TWO ANTI-SMOKING SEMINARS HELD TODAY AT KWAI CHUNG AND TSING YI - QUIT SMOKING NOW, CIGARETTES ARE HAZARDOUS AND DESTRUCTIVE TO HEALTH.

THE SEMINARS WERE PART OF THE TSUEN WAN DISTRICT ANTI-SMOKING CAMPAIGN IN SUPPORT OF THE TERRITORY-WIDE DRIVE LAUNCHED BY THE GOVERNMENT INFORMATION SERVICES.

OPENING THE SEMINAR AT THE BUDDHIST YIP KEI NAM MEMOR I AL COLLEGE AT CHEUNG CHING ESTATE, THE ASSISTANT DISTRICT OFFICER OF TSING YI, MR BARTON IRELAND, SAID MANY CHILDREN START SMOKING IN THE MISTAKEN BELIEF THAT SMOKING CAN GIVE THEM A LIFT', PHYSICAL OR EMOTIONAL, OR CAN HELP CALM THE IR NERVES AND QUELL FEAR AND INSECURITY.

+OTHERS FEEL THAT SMOKING SHOWS MATURITY AND THAT IF THEY DO NOT SMOKE THEY WILL BE TREATED AS OUTSIDERS BY THE IR CONTEMPORARIES, HE SAID.

+BELIEVE ME, NOTHING CAN JUSTIFY ENSLAVING YOURSELF TO THIS DESTRUCTIVE ADDICTION.+

+THE SMOKER'S ODDS OF DYING OF LUNG CANCER ARE SEVEN TIMES AS HIGH AS THOSE OF THE NON-SMOKER. A 20-YEAR SURVEY BY BRITISH DOCTORS SHOWS THAT, ON AVERAGE, THREE OUT OF 10 SMOKERS WILL DIE AS A RESULT OF THEIR HABIT. ON AVERAGE, THOSE WHO DIE WILL CUT SHORT THE IR LIVES BY 10 TO 15 YEARS. THESE ARE SOME OF THE SOBERING FACTS,+ MR IRELAND SAID.

SPEAKING AT THE OTHER SEMINAR HELD AT THE COTTON SPINNERS' ASSOCIATION PREVOCATIONAL SCHOOL, THE ASSISTANT DISTRICT OFFICER OF KWAI CHUNG SOUTH, MR ALAN HO, SAID IT WAS SHOCKING TO FIND THAT 12 PER CENT OF FORM 1 TO FORM 3 STUDENTS WERE SMOKERS.

HE SAID THIS WAS SHOWN IN A RECENT SURVEY BY THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT IN THE NEW TERRITORIES ON SMOKING HABITS AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS.

+TAKING UP SMOKING AS EARLY AS STUDENT DAYS IS, OF COURSE, HAZARDOUS TO HEALTH, AND WILL ALSO INCREASE THE FINANCIAL BURDEN OF FAMILY, HE ADDED.

THE CAMPAIGN IS JOINTLY ORGANISED BY THE TSUEN WAN DISTRICT BOARD AND THE KWUN TONG COMMUNITY HEALTH PROJECT.

A THIRD SEMINAR WILL BE HELD ON SUNDAY, (DECEMBER 4) AT THE TSUEN WAN TOWN HALL.

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