01 point of view
Written by: Review Editor Room
2020-06-09 16:30
Last update date: 2020-06-09 16:30From April to July last year, the Center for Health Protection conducted questionnaire interviews with about 10,000 households, and officially announced the results of the survey on Tuesday (8th). The survey found that the proportion of the population who smoked traditional cigarettes in Hong Kong rose slightly by 0.2% to 10.2% compared with last year. Although the number has increased slightly, it has broken the trend of Hong Kong's continuous decline in the past decade. The rise in the number of smokers will inevitably make the community worry about the future rise in the number of smokers.
(Online picture of the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health)
"Steady smokers" will not decrease
The decline in the number of smokers in Hong Kong has slowed in recent years, hovering around 10% for a long time. Even though the government has increased tobacco taxes five times in the past 20 years, it has increased by 50% and 41.5% in 2009 and 2011, respectively, but no significant reduction in smoking population has occurred since then. This situation should be understood from two aspects. One is that the final 10.2% of smokers are very "firm". The price increase alone cannot be easily dismissed. The second is that the increase in tobacco tax has not been enough to convince smokers to quit smoking. There is still room for adjustment in the future.
The smoking population in Hong Kong has fallen to 10.2%, and the remaining "firm" smokers have a low desire to quit smoking. As indicated by the survey, about 403,900 people (63.3% of the total smokers) who are used to smoking cigarettes daily have never tried to quit smoking and do not want to quit smoking. Six of them said that smoking has become a habit or a habit. Hong Kong has experienced many price increases, but the number of determined smokers is still similar to that of 2017. Judging from the fact that they have not quit smoking, price may not be their most important consideration.
How to promote these long-term smokers to quit smoking is a test of government wisdom. For example, the Hong Kong government may study the introduction of new alternatives as a measure to reduce demand. At present, in addition to natural remedies, only nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and non-nicotine replacement therapy (non-NRT) are available for smoking cessation in Hong Kong. The authorities can refer to other countries to introduce different smoking cessation products as assistance, such as Swedish people using mouth smoke ( Snus), etc., were introduced for smokers to substitute after evaluating the risks and effectiveness of the product.
From April to July last year, the Center for Health Protection conducted questionnaire interviews with about 10,000 households, and officially announced the results of the survey on Tuesday (8th). (Information Picture/Photo by Chen Jiayi)
Tobacco tax is yet to be reviewed
The government has increased tobacco taxes five times in the past 20 years, but the increase is still limited. At present, cigarette prices of major brands in Hong Kong are about 57 to 60 yuan, which is still lower than many regions after many price increases. At present, the tobacco tax in Hong Kong accounts for only about 63% of the retail price of tobacco, which is far lower than the WHO recommended. 75% or more. For example, New West: about 133 Hong Kong dollars, Singapore about 75 yuan, the United Kingdom about 94 yuan and Australia about 187 Hong Kong dollars. The current tobacco price in Hong Kong is not high enough to attract smokers to quit smoking. Even compared with foreign countries, local cigarettes can be described as excessively "buy-in". For the future pricing of tobacco tax, the authorities must still seriously review and increase the tobacco tax.
After another 11.7% adjustment in Hong Kong in 2014, the tobacco tax has not changed for many years. The future pricing remains to be studied by the government. However, from the perspective of tobacco control, cigarette tax rates should still be high but not low. According to the "Tobacco Control Policy Survey" conducted by the Smoking and Health Commission from September 2018 to March 2019, many smokers believe that setting the median price of cigarettes at HK$100 per pack will help quit smoking. The authorities should increase the tobacco tax rate seriously, so as to reduce the smoking rate and protect public health.
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01 point of view
Smoking and smoking cessation tobacco tax 01
