Smoking Cessation in Hong Kong

Rarely do I ever get a chance to put on a suit and tie, but I had an opportunity last week when our group was invited to the 30th anniversary of tobacco control in Hong Kong. I was able to travel to Hong Kong with Jessica, Nita, and Rachel to attend nursing classes at Hong Kong University as well as partake in a research project on smoking cessation.
We walked into the convention center without any idea of what we were getting ourselves into. When we walked into the cocktail reception, we knew we were in for a treat. Besides being able to help ourselves to the many delicacies of Hong Kong food, we had the rare opportunity to see many prominent individuals including the Director General of the World Health Organization as well as the Hong Kong Secretary for Food and Health.
The event gave us a preview of how far a country can come when a group of individuals come together to solve a public health concern. Tobacco control has helped decrease the smoking prevalence from 23.3% in 1982 to a mere 11.1% in 2012 making Hong Kong's smoking prevalence "one of the lowest in the Asia Pacific Region and in the world." It was definitely an inspirational event that served as a kick-off point for our own research on smoking cessation here in Hong Kong.

The full press release can be found at: http://cosh.org.hk/en/content/web.do?page=news20121009

Dr. Margaret Chan - Director-General of WHO