Categories
· Tobacco Control
non-USA, by Country
· China
· Hong Kong
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Jump to full article: The Lancet, 2010-03-26
Author: Jeffrey P Koplan a, Wang Ke An b, Ronald MK Lam c / The Lancet, Early Online Publication, 26 March 2010
Intro: China was a signatory to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and is committed to its enforcement. Nevertheless, the country faces an immense public health challenge and is at an early stage of effectively addressing the tobacco threat.
A bright spot for tobacco control can be found in Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of China. For more than 20 years, Hong Kong has sought to diminish the health burden of tobacco use, and has been remarkably successful.3 The strategies and approaches used, although typical of effective tobacco-control programmes worldwide, might serve as a useful best-practice example for programmes underway or being considered in other cities and regions throughout China. Beginning with a health ordinance focusing on tobacco in 1982, Hong Kong started a step-by-step approach to tobacco control involving multipronged strategies aimed at reduction of supply and demand for tobacco use. Approaches have included legislative amendments, increased tobacco taxation, publicity and education, support for cessation, and gearing up of anti-tobacco leadership by the medical community.4 . . .
Hong Kong has shown that an effective large-scale tobacco-control programme, promoted with adequate resources over many years, can shatter misconceptions about tobacco, change the social norm, and yield huge benefits, including a healthier population and economic savings. These efforts can serve as a useful best-practice example for China and other nations.
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