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January, 2012:

HK helps smash illicit mainland tobacco trade

Jan 22nd, 2012
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South China Morning Post – 22 Jan 2012

City authorities praised by British counterparts for helping stem flow of smuggled cigarettes

International co-operation involving Hong Kong is helping to smash illegal tobacco-growing operations on the mainland.

British authorities working to stem the flow of illicit cigarettes from China to Europe have heaped praise on their counterparts in Hong Kong and mainland China for their achievements, which include the seizure of 10 tonnes of tobacco and 713 cigarette manufacturing machines.

“These Chinese efforts really have had a market impact in the UK and other European states because they have driven down production,” said Euan Stewart, deputy director of criminal investigations at Britain’s HM Revenue and Customs. “It has been so successful that from seven provinces where illicit tobacco was manufactured and smuggled out of China to the European market, this has now been driven down to two provinces.”

Hong Kong customs and excise commissioner Clement Cheung Wan-ching said the recent seizure of 10 tonnes of hand-rolling tobacco bound for Britain was an example of the success of the partnership.

“We’ve been working very closely with our UK and mainland colleagues,” Cheung said. “Their revenue officers have been in communication with our officers and the latest incident when we uncovered the largest single police case involving the smuggling of tobacco into the UK is a testament to the co-operation that has been going on.”

Stewart said he had seen a growing willingness to share information from Beijing’s Anti-smuggling Bureau and the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration.

“You need good dialogue and trust to work with any Chinese official, either in Hong Kong or the mainland, and I believe we have achieved that,” Stewart said. “We’ve created an environment of trust where both parties benefit and operate effectively.

“There’s a definite willingness to share, sometimes quite sensitive intelligence, and we’re very grateful for that. We see it making a difference. There’s a whole lot less product reaching our frontiers.”

Anil Gogna, a fiscal and drugs liaison officer at the British consulate in Hong Kong, said Hong Kong was a key anti-smuggling partner in Asia.

“In China, counterfeit cigarettes have been seized and illicit tobacco factories have been found and shut. It has all had a knock-on effect on smuggling into the UK and Europe,” he said.

Cheung said Hong Kong customs had two main areas of co-operation with the mainland.

The first is when tobacco is seized and its mainland source is identified. Information is shared with mainland authorities to see if enforcement action can be taken. The second comes when mainland internet portals are used to sell tobacco to Hongkongers.

“Hong Kong is a free port, anyone can carry a reasonable amount of commodities across the border. But seeing as those commodities may be taxable on the mainland, we have a lot of co-operation. It’s very much a two-way street,” Cheung said.

john.carney@scmp.com

Smoker jailed for assaulting Tobacco Control Inspector

Jan 21st, 2012
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7thSpace Interactive (press release) – 30 Dec 2011

Hong Kong (HKSAR) – A 60-year-old man was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment in … 30) upon conviction of assaulting a Tobacco Control Inspector (TCI).

http://7thspace.com/headlines/403026/smoker_jailed_for_assaulting_tobacco_control_inspector.html

Making Big Tobacco pay smokers’ health bills: lessons from the United States

Jan 21st, 2012
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http://theconversation.edu.au/making-big-tobacco-pay-smokers-health-bills-lessons-from-the-united-states-4691

16 December 2011, 2.10pm AEST

Reports that Nicola Roxon plans to encourage state governments to consider legal action to recover around A$31 billion in smoking-related health-care costs from the tobacco industry highlight the incoming attorney-general’s commendable commitment to reducing the impact of smoking-related illness and…

Author

Ross MacKenzie

Lecturer in Health Studies at Macquarie University

The legacy of the US Master Settlement Agreement holds significant lessons for policy makers in Australia. Razvan Caliman

Reports that Nicola Roxon plans to encourage state governments to consider legal action to recover around A$31 billion in smoking-related health-care costs from the tobacco industry highlight the incoming attorney-general’s commendable commitment to reducing the impact of smoking-related illness and mortality.

Such litigation is a potentially powerful way of countering the tobacco industry, but has been largely limited to the United States to date. As part of preliminary work on the proposal, Roxon has brought Matthew Myers, president of the leading US tobacco control organisation, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, to Australia to discuss litigation with state officials.

Myers, as The Australian points out, advised US attorneys-general during litigation against the tobacco industry in the late 1990s, and played a key role in negotiations that resulted in the controversial 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA).

While a spokeswoman for Roxon stated that Myers had been brought in to “share his extensive experience in tobacco-related litigation” and that the minister was “heartened by the support of such an esteemed anti-tobacco expert”, the MSA has, in fact, had limited impact on the tobacco industry and effectively split the tobacco control community in the United States.

Probably best known for its requirement that Philip Morris and other leading tobacco corporations make payments of US$246 billion to those states party to the settlement over a 25-year period, the MSA remains controversial within US tobacco control and broader public health circles, and it’s imperative that Australian officials consider the circumstances surrounding its progress carefully.

The US Master Settlement Agreement

The MSA was the result of secret negotiations between the tobacco industry, and attorneys-general and members of the tobacco control community including Myers. Critics of the negotiations claim the tobacco industry was on the defensive in the late 1990s – facing a combination of dozens of state lawsuits, damaging insights into its long-standing knowledge of the harms of smoking, and falling stock prices – and that state lawsuits should have been allowed to go to trial. In effect, the negotiations let the industry off the ropes.

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Adam Mulligan

Under the terms of the MSA, the tobacco industry paid US$246 billion, agreed to fund a national initiative to reduce smoking and accepted limited restrictions on advertising. In return, outstanding litigation was dropped by the 46 states party to the settlement, and future state-level litigation was pre-empted.

The final terms have been described by Allan Brandt, professor of history of medicine at Harvard Medical School and author of the book The Cigarette Century, as “a pale reflection” of earlier proposed settlements. As many had predicted, tobacco corporations passed the costs of the MSA on to consumers through sharp price hikes essentially making the agreement, Brandt contends, little more than a new excise tax on cigarettes.

Settlement results

Ostensible marketing restrictions in the agreement contained so many loopholes that spending on cigarette advertising and promotion has, in fact, increased dramatically in the United States since 1998. Not only hasthe MSA had virtually no impact on tobacco industry income or marketing practice, signatory states have realised little benefit from it.

And while it may appear impressive, the agreed multi-billion dollar payment was insufficient to cover the costs of treating smoking-related illnesses and, more significantly, there were no assurances included in the settlement that monies received by the states would be dedicated to health-care and tobacco control programs.

In many cases these funds have disappeared into general revenues, making state politicians reliant on this unexpected income, and effectively making the states partners of the tobacco industry. As Brandt argues, any new legal challenges to the industry have become “threats to the states’ cash flow”.

Australia’s tobacco control legislation is considerably more advanced than that in the United States, so concerns that the MSA does little to curtail industry advertising are largely irrelevant here. But the legacy of the MSA does hold significant lessons for policy makers in this country assessing the advisability of mounting legal action to secure compensation for smoking-related health-care costs.

Most importantly, the MSA demonstrates that litigation, once launched, will have to be pursued diligently and without recourse to negotiated settlements with the industry.

The experience of US states also underlines the importance of installing a regulatory mechanism that ensures any monies recovered from the industry are used to underwrite health costs related to tobacco use. Given his central role in the MSA negotiations, Myers’ best advice to Australian policy makers may well be about what not to do in future litigation.

Big Tobacco vs Australia: Philip Morris scores an own goal

Jan 21st, 2012
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http://theconversation.edu.au/big-tobacco-vs-australia-philip-morris-scores-an-own-goal-4967

20 January 2012, 10.26am AEST

Big Tobacco vs Australia: Philip Morris scores an own goal

You may have missed it, but the stoush between Big Tobacco and the Australian government over the plain packaging legislation took an odd turn late last year. The government’s response to Philip Morris Asia’s attempt to challenge the legislation under the bilateral investment treaty with Hong Kong revealed…

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It appears as though Philip Morris Asia only acquired the Australian companies in order to be able to launch this claim under the Hong Kong BIT. AAP

You may have missed it, but the stoush between Big Tobacco and the Australian government over the plain packaging legislation took an odd turn late last year. The government’s response to Philip Morris Asia’s attempt to challenge the legislation under the bilateral investment treaty with Hong Kong revealed that Philip Morris may have acquired its Australian investments purely for the purpose of taking the action.

Just before Christmas, the Australian Government formally responded to the claims of Philip Morris Asia Ltd (PMA), a Hong Kong company, that the legislation for plain packaging of cigarettes breaches the Agreement between the Government of Hong Kong and the Government of Australia for the Promotion and Protection of Investments (the “BIT”).

Briefly, PMA owns all the shares in Philip Morris (Australia) Ltd, which, in turn, owns all the shares in Philip Morris Ltd. Philip Morris Ltd owns or has a licence to use some tobacco trade marks that are certainly worth a lot of money. PMA’s argument is that the plain packaging legislation constitutes an expropriation or deprivation of its investments in the two Australian companies because of its detrimental impact on the value of those trademarks.

Much has already been written on whether the legislation could constitute a breach of the BIT, even if everything that PMA claims about the facts of the matter are correct. PMA will struggle to show that there has been any expropriation within the meaning of the BIT.

But, even more significantly, PMA did not state in its documentation one further key fact that seriously affects the strength of its argument.

The Australian government’s formal response to PMA makes the point that PMA did not have any interest in the Australian companies until February 23, 2011. The Australian government had made its policy position very clear and public well before that date, in April 2010. In addition, it received submissions from Philip Morris about the proposed legislation well before that date, so none of the Philip Morris companies can seriously claim that they were not aware of the impending action by the Australian Government.

It appears as though PMA only acquired the Australian companies in order to be able to launch this claim under the BIT. It also seems that PMA acquired assets in Australia knowing that they would be adversely affected by the forthcoming legislation.

The company’s own documentation in the dispute alleges that it is entitled to compensation “in an amount to be quantified but of the order of billions of Australian dollars”. So PMA acquired assets knowing that, according to it, the value of those assets was about to be reduced by “billions of Australian dollars”.

Article 6 of the BIT specifically refers to how compensation should be calculated. It states that the compensation shall amount to “the real value of the investment immediately before the deprivation or before the impending deprivation became public knowledge whichever is the earlier”.

The investment is defined in Article 1 of the BIT as the investment of the Hong Kong investors, that is, PMA. So what was the value of the “investment” that PMA had before the impending “deprivation” became public knowledge? It seems that it did not have any investment at all at the time that the impending “deprivation” became public knowledge.

No doubt PMA will have some argument on the point but, as a general rule, the value of nothing is nothing.

It appears that PMA’s claim for “billions of Australian dollars” has about as much life as the parrot in the famous Monty Python sketch. It will be interesting to see whether PMA argues that its claim is just resting or, perhaps, just temporarily stunned by the Australian government taking it out of its cage and giving it a good hard whack with the facts

http://theconversation.edu.au/big-tobacco-vs-australia-philip-morris-scores-an-own-goal-4967

FIS – Worldnews – Tobacco dust protects farmed fish from predators

Jan 21st, 2012
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http://www.fis.com/fis/worldnews/worldnews.asp?l=e&country=0&special=&monthyear=&day=&id=49215&ndb=1&df=0

Description: http://www.fis.com/fis/worldnews/images/39560_329x280_72_DPI_0.jpg

Tobacco dust used as molluscicide in milkfish farming. (Photo: nta.da.gov.ph/SEAFDDEC/FIS)

Tobacco dust protects farmed fish from predators

PHILIPPINES
Thursday, January 19, 2012, 01:50 (GMT + 9)

Research by the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) demonstrates that tobacco dust acts as a molluscicide by battling head lice and decimating snails living in fishponds and fish cages, Chief Edgardo D Zaragoza said this week.

Tobacco dust acts quickly to protect milkfish and its eggs from snails and other predators roaming in ponds and fish pens. Its efficacy has been proven by studies run by a team from the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Centre (Seafdec) in Tigbauan, Iloilo under Dr Joebert D Toledo, he went on.

Tobacco dust has already been applied as a pesticide in vegetable farms in Ilocos Sur, and growers have seen higher yields and significant cuts in production costs.

Now, the NTA has introduced a scheme to promote the use of tobacco dust in Sto Tomas, La Union to show how it benefits organic aquaculture, Manila Bulletin reports.

At a demonstration farm in the town, Zaragoza led a “show and tell” activity on how tobacco dust can work to tackle the degradation of fishponds caused by highly toxic chemicals. He discussed Tobacco Dust Plus, a scientifically tested, standardized, pure tobacco dust formulation created as a molluscicide to curb the presence of snails and other predators in fishponds.

He added that tobacco dust also works as a fertilizer to foster the growth of the natural fish food “lablab” and as a soil conditioner.

“The product intends to replace the long-banned, highly toxic, cyanide-based, inorganic chemicals being used in the preparation or sterilization of fishponds before the stocking of fingerlings,” Zaragoza explained.

Other institutions joining Seafdec that assessed tobacco dust were the Iloilo School of Fisheries in Iloilo, the Philippine Council for Aquaculture and Marine Resources Research and Development and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).

Field testing was conducted in fishponds in Bulacan, Pampanga, Bataan, Pangasinan and Ilocos Sur and confirmed the findings of the scientific studies.

The studies showed that following recommended production technologies demonstrated in the farm led to a notable drop in the mortality rate of fingerlings — from 20 to only 5 per cent – and savings of about PHP 20,000 (USD 456.44) on production cost per ha per grow-out cycle.

By Natalia Real
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com

Hong Kong Customs spares no effort in fight against illegal activities

Jan 19th, 2012
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http://7thspace.com/headlines/404074/hong_kong_customs_spares_no_effort_in_f
ight_against_illegal_activities.html
On law enforcement, Hong Kong Customs detected 9,106 illicit cigarette cases
in connection with smuggling, storage, distribution, peddling and excessive
duty-free cigarettes brought in by incoming passengers, with a total of 106
million sticks of cigarettes seized, representing an increase of 44 per cent
and 39 per cent respectively compared with the figures for 2010.About 35
million cigarette sticks were seized in export/transshipment cases while the
remaining sticks were seized in local illicit cigarette activities.

Mr Cheung noted that illicit cigarette activities had become relatively
active after the increase in the duty rate for tobacco to 41.5per cent in
February.The whole situation, however, was gradually put under control
following Customs’ vigorous enforcement action against these
activities.Street peddling activities at blackspots almost
vanished.Moreover, 773 persons were arrested in the selling and buying of
illicit cigarette activities.Among them, 268 were buyers, representing a
drop of 27 per cent against 2010.Increased public awareness of the criminal
consequences of buying illicit cigarettes was believed to have induced the
drop.

Breath of fresh air on killer smoking disease

Jan 17th, 2012
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Hong Kong Standard

Kenneth Foo

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

A fresh set of medical guidelines could breathe new life into patients suffering from a serious smoking- related lung disease.

According to a leading respiratory specialist, the revamped protocols will help patients and doctors identify the early onset of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and take decisive action to defeat it.

“Early recognition makes all the difference,” Dr Alvin Ng Kin-chung said.

“The new guidelines allow for early attention to the disease and doctors can prescribe drugs to fight the illness at its early stages.”

Many doctors have dubbed COPD the “silent killer” as it is often neglected, undiagnosed or even confused with asthma.

ADVERTISEMENT

COPD is expected to become the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2030, according to World Health Organization estimates.

It is a breathing disorder that usually co-exists with other lung diseases such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema and, in most cases, a combination of both. Symptoms include shortness of breath, wheezing, chest tightness and fatigue.

The systemic illness typically affects smokers, but can also affect anyone exposed to smoke or chemicals.

The condition of the COPD patient becomes complicated by what doctors call “lung attacks,” which signal that COPD is getting worse. They frequently occur after the patient has been ill for a few years.

The new set of protocols was enacted by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease, an international cooperative of medical experts and specialists who meet every five years to draft guidelines that govern its treatment.

Revisions of the existing guidelines set up in 2006 include a patient’s self-assessment test and a doctor’s assessment.

The patient’s self assessment comes in the form of a short questionnaire that requires participants to give information such as the seriousness of coughing, chest tightness and energy levels.

Pulmonary rehabilitation is a key part of the new COPD treatment plan.

One part education and one part exercise, pulmonary rehabilitation is a multidisciplinary approach that includes breathing techniques and emotional support.

Patient education and pulmonary rehabilitation, if given early, can reduce the number of lung attacks and dramatically improve a patient’s quality of life.

A patient who has reaped some benefits from pulmonary rehabilitation is Mr Lau, 70, who was hospitalized in 2010 with the disease.

He made a remarkable recovery after being given moderate doses of inhaled steroids and pulmonary rehabilitation.

2011 EXCISE TAX EFFECT

Jan 16th, 2012
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SHOCKING!

SEE THE EFFECT OF AN INADEQUATE HKG EXCISE TAX RISE ON TOBACCO IN 2011

THE RESULTANT TAX INCREASE EFFECT WAS TO REDUCE THE DAILY SMOKERS’ INTAKE ON AVERAGE BY 1 STICK PER DAY ONLY

THE EXCISE INCOME FROM TOBACCO IS STILL HKD 1 BILLION+ LESS THAN IT COSTS GOVERNMENT TO TREAT THE RAVAGES OF TOBACCO

7000 CHILDREN UNDER 9 STARTED SMOKING IN 2010 AND 383,900 KIDS AGED 10-19 ALSO STARTED SMOKING IN 2010.

SIMPLY, CHILDREN CONTINUE TO START SMOKING IN HONG KONG SINCE THE PRICE IS TOO AFFORDABLE AND CIGARETTES ARE TOO ACCESSIBLE WITHOUT LICENSED RETAILERS

THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT DOING ITS JOB BY MAKING TOBACCO UNAFFORDABLE TO YOUTH AND BEYOND THEIR REACH BY WAY OF THE USAGE OF FIRST WORLD EXCISE TAX RATES.

THE WHOLE IDEA OF EXCISE TAX AS A PREVENTATIVE MEASURE IS TO STOP CHILDREN SMOKING AND TO ENCOURAGE OLDER SMOKERS TO GIVE UP

BECAUSE OF THE COST.

MEANWHILE IN 2011 GOVERNMENT SPENT LESS THAN 10 DAYS’ TOBACCO EXCISE INCOME ON TOBACCO CONTROL IN HONG KONG INCLUDING

THE COST OF TOBACCO CONTROL OFFICE, COUNCIL ON SMOKING AND HEALTH AND TOBACCO CESSATION FUNDING.

COMPARE:

MARLBORO PACK OF 20 STICKS

HONG KONG                                     HKD 52

SINGAPORE                                       HKD 72

NEW ZEALAND   (NZD13.8)            HKD 83

UK ASDA SUPERMARKET                HKD 83   (even though Pound is weak @ 11.9 HKD)

IRELAND                                            HKD 87   (even though Euro is weak @ 9.92 HKD)

AUSTRALIA                                        HKD 106 (rate 8.022 HKD)

NEW YORK                                        HKD 115

http://www.c-store.com.au/industry/tobacco.php#pm Marlboro 13.2

Download PDF : 2011EXCISETAXEFFECT

Brunei mulls plain tobacco packaging

Jan 13th, 2012
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http://www.bt.com.bn/news-national/2012/01/11/brunei-mulls-plain-tobacco-packaging

Brunei mulls plain tobacco packaging – The Brunei Times
January 13, 2012

Diyana Ibrahim

[Photo cutline]: Delegates making their way to a group photo session during the WHO technical meeting on plain packaging of tobacco products, held at Rizqun International Hotel, Gadong.

BRUNEI is currently reviewing the pictorial health warnings in use, and is considering amending the size of the health warnings to be carried on tobacco product packagings, the deputy permanent secretary (Professional and Technical) at the Ministry of Health said in her key note address yesterday.

Addressing the participants of the workshop on Plain Packaging of Tobacco Products, Dr Hjh Norlila Dato Paduka Hj Abdul Jalil said that tobacco control in Brunei has been identified as one of the top priorities in its strategic framework of action, the National Health Care plan (2000-2010).

“Through further review of the Ministry of Health’s vision and strategy to move ‘Together Towards a Healthy Nation’, a new strategic framework was also launched in 2010 which further identified tobacco control as pivotal in embracing a healthy lifestyle.”

She highlighted that tobacco has “devastating consequences” not only in terms of its direct impact on health but also on “its indirect impact on the economy and productivity of a country”.

“Tobacco is known to be the leading cause of multiple chronic non-communicable diseases and is the world’s leading preventable cause of death,” she said.

“It affects the economic status of a nation through the cost of treating diseases related to tobacco smoking. This includes costs of treatment, medication, hospital admissions as well as loss of workers’ productivity and loss of income due to inability to work.”

She further said that tobacco killed people at the height of their productivity, depriving families of breadwinners and nations of a healthy working force.

“Tobacco kills nearly six million people each year, out of whom, more than five million are users and ex-users.”

“In addition, it also kills more than 600,000 non-smokers who were exposed to second-hand smoke,” she said, adding that unless urgent action is taken, the annual death toll resulting from tobacco could rise to more than eight million by 2030.

The “Plain Packaging of Tobacco Products” workshop held at the Rizqun International Hotel was conducted by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Among the objectives of the two-day workshop, was to learn from the pioneering work of Australia as the first country in the world to successfully introduce plain packaging on tobacco products.

The workshop included discussion on the evidence for plain packaging of tobacco products, and recommended actions to further support plain packaging.

Those present during the workshop comprised experts on tobacco control from the ministries of health, senior policy-makers, legislators and government champions for the ban on advertising, promotion and sponsorship; were last night feted to a welcoming dinner.

The dinner was hosted by Health Minister Pehin Orang Kaya Johan Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Hj Adanan Begawan Pehin Siraja Khatib Dato Seri Setia Hj Mohd Yusof at Jerudong Park Polo & Riding Club.

Source: The Brunei Times
Category: Legislation & Politics
Date: 13 January 2012

Therapy to quit smoking ‘no help’

Jan 11th, 2012
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south China Morning Post – Jan 11, 2012

Clear the Air says : because the smokers can still go out and smoke in bars with only a miniscule chance of being caught, they will continue to do so until the Government follows the legislation in many overseas territories and places the onus to prevent smoking on the premises’ licensees including patio areas and within 10 meters of doorways. Without places to go and smoke socially, many more nicotine addicts will quit.

US study shows nicotine gum and patches are not much use in kicking the habit, but Hong Kong still sees value in such programmes

Nicotine gum and patches may be no help in kicking a smoking habit and may even backfire in the case of heavy smokers, according to a long-term study conducted in the United States.

Such therapy is recommended in programmes trying to get people to quit smoking in Hong Kong.

US researchers say they have found no difference in long-term quit rates with or without the use of gum and patches.

“We were hoping for a very different story,” said Professor Gregory Connolly, director of Harvard University’s Centre for Global Tobacco Control in Boston and co-author of the study. “I ran a treatment for years, and we invested millions in treatment services.”

In Hong Kong, the Department of Health works with medical institutions such as the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals to run clinics to provide free nicotine replacement therapy for people seeking to quit smoking.

The University of Hong Kong, for instance, recommends using gum or patches if smokers find withdrawal symptoms too much to handle.

However, the cost of such therapy seems to be a deterrent – the university found only about a third of the 10,000 or so respondents in a survey actually used them, said Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee, head of the nursing department.

“It’s funny. It’s about the same amount as smoking for a week, about HK$200, but people don’t want to spend money on [gum or patches],” Chan said.

She said that for now, HKU would continue to recommend using gum and patches to quit smoking.

“The nicotine replacement therapies are more to help them through the process of quitting. It’s like what methadone clinics do for heroin addicts, giving them lower doses to ease them off withdrawal symptoms, not necessarily to prevent relapse.”

In general, at least half of those who tried to quit smoking relapsed, and so psychological readiness was more instrumental to preventing a relapse, she said.

In the Massachusetts study, the researchers followed the progress of 1,916 adults during the past decade, including 787 who said at the start of the study that they had recently quit smoking.

The researchers interviewed them three times, about once every two years, on their use of gum, patches and other such products, their periods of not smoking and their relapses.

At each stage, about one-third of the people trying to quit had relapsed, the study found. The use of replacement products made no difference, whether they were taken for a recommended two-month period (usually they were not), or with the guidance of a professional cessation counsellor.

Heavy smokers – defined as those who had their first cigarette within half an hour of waking up – who used replacement products without counselling were twice as likely to relapse as heavy smokers who did not use them. The findings were published in the journal Tobacco Control this week.

In Hong Kong, smokers who sign up for services to quit smoking undergo individual or group counselling and are prescribed nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) or non-NRT medication. The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals programme admitted 717, 1,288 and 2,756 people in 2009, 2010 and last year respectively. The health department subsidised the hospital group with HK$21 million for 2011-12 for the smoking cessation programme, a department spokesman said.

A combination of higher taxes, social factors and effective antitobacco campaigning in the city is thought to have helped cut the number of people aged 15 and above who smoke to 11.1 per cent, down from 12 per cent in 2009. The rate is one of the lowest in the developed world.

christy.choi@scmp.com

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