ENG-2015 — Page 186

8

Health

Taxation

The government increased tobacco duty rates by 11.7 per cent in February 2014 to curb cigarette consumption.

Publicity and Education

The Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health, an independent statutory body, advises the government on smoking, passive smoking and health, and on publicising the hazards of smoking. The council conducts publicity, education and community involvement campaigns, which attracted 269,000 participants in 2015. It also operates a website and a hotline to receive enquiries and suggestions from the public on smoking and health.

Smoking Cessation and Prevention of Youth Smoking

The Tobacco Control Office provides advice on how to quit smoking, counselling services and pharmaceutical treatment through various channels, including a hotline (1833 183), clinics and an interactive online cessation centre. In 2015, more than 9,000 phone calls were made to the smoking cessation hotline. The office also broadcasts announcements on television and radio, conducts seminars and issues materials to increase public awareness of the harmful effects of smoking and second-hand cigarette smoke. It collaborates with a number of NGOs to run community-based smoking cessation programmes, including the use of Chinese medicine acupuncture, peer-led phone counselling, smoking cessation services at the workplace, smoking cessation programmes for ethnic minorities and new immigrants and school activities to promote a smoke-free culture.

The Hospital Authority provides smoking counselling and cessation services through its 16 full-time and 49 part-time Smoking Counselling and Cessation Centres. It also operates a phone hotline providing booking and enquiry services for smokers who wish to quit smoking.

Disease Prevention and Control

The department spent $2.7 billion on disease prevention and control at its maternal and child. health centres, elderly health centres and similar facilities in 2014-15.

Centre for Health Protection

The Centre for Health Protection collaborates with local and international counterparts to prevent and control diseases in Hong Kong. It works on three principles: real-time surveillance, rapid intervention and responsive risk communication. The centre keeps track of communicable diseases and issues surveillance reports on a regular basis, as well as reports on laboratory data.

A board of scientific advisers, comprising experts from different disciplines, and seven scientific committees meet periodically to assist the centre in formulating effective policies to improve the health protection system.

The centre maintains close liaison with District Councils and Healthy Cities projects at district level to disseminate information and guidelines on diseases, alert the public to health threats and facilitate rapid implementation of preventive measures. It also shares professional

146