Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health (COSH), Hong Kong Academy of Medicine, The Hong Kong Medical Association, The Federation of Medical Societies of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Doctors Union and Hong Kong Dental Association welcomed the decision of the Chief Executive to ban e-cigarettes and other new tobacco products (including import, manufacture, sale, distribution and advertisement) as announced in the 2018 Policy Address. It demonstrated the Government’s determination to safeguard public health. We urge the Government to put the legislation forward and press for immediate review and endorsement by the Legislative Council with no further delay, so as to prevent them from becoming the gateway to smoking and avoid the current and future health risks posed by the tobacco epidemic. We also hope the Government will take a bold step to formulate a goal and timeline for total ban of smoking which has been announced by many governments, e.g. Ireland (2025), New Zealand (2025), Finland (2030), Canada (2035) and Malaysia (2045), etc. in order to protect public health and achieve a smoke-free Hong Kong.
In September 2018, COSH and 71 organizations jointly sent a letter to the Chief Executive (click
here to read the letter) to urge for a total ban on e-cigarettes and other new tobacco products, and a timeline for total ban of smoking. We have to emphasize that there is no safe tobacco product in the world. Increasing number of research studies uncovered the detrimental chemicals and the severe health impact of using e-cigarettes and other new tobacco products. Marketing strategy, design and packaging of these products target at youth and non-smokers, making them a gateway to youth smoking. The Government should implement a total ban of these products as soon as possible to prevent its epidemic and protect the health of people, especially the next generation.
In the US, e-cigarettes use among secondary school students in 2015 was about 10 times more than in 2011. According to the information of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), there were over 2 million secondary school students using e-cigarettes in 2017. The situation is worrying. Dr Scott Gottlieb, FDA Commissioner, described on 12 September 2018 that e-cigarettes had become an epidemic, and a ubiquitous and dangerous trend among teens. The disturbing and accelerating trajectory of use in youth and the resulting path to addiction must end. It showed that regulatory approach on e-cigarettes and new tobacco products is not able to prevent its epidemic among youngsters.
According to the School-based Survey on Smoking conducted by the School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong in 2016-2017, among those primary school students who had ever used both e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes, nearly 70% tried an e-cigarette first. On the other hand, COSH’s surveys showed that ever use of e-cigarettes among primary 2 to primary 4 students increased by 55% from 2016-2017 to 2017-2018. Hong Kong should nip in the bud the proliferation of e-cigarettes and other new tobacco products including heat-not-burn tobacco products and ban them before they become popular.
The total ban proposal is widely supported by different community sectors and the general public in Hong Kong. From June to September 2018, COSH and various organizations received signatories from nearly 40,000 members of public and over 300 companies/organizations supporting a total ban on e-cigarettes and other new tobacco products, and to formulate a timeline for total ban of smoking. Survey results from the Federations of Parent-teacher Associations and The Lok Sin Tong Benevolent Society, Kowloon also showed that parents (82%) and youngsters (90%) overwhelmingly support the ban on all new tobacco products.
This press statement is jointly released by Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health, Hong Kong Academy of Medicine, The Hong Kong Medical Association, The Federation of Medical Societies of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Doctors Union and Hong Kong Dental Association.