Nicotine patch trial kits offer for smokers

A total of 5,000 anti-smoking packs will be distributed next month to 200 qualified pharmacies to encourage more people to quit smoking.

Those who want to get the seven-day nicotine patch trial kit can download the Department of Health's "Quit Smoking" mobile app, fill out a questionnaire and show the pharmacist the QR code.

This is part of the government's annual quit-smoking campaign, marking the 2023 edition of World No Tobacco Day held by the World Health Organization with the theme "Grow food, not tobacco."

The patches provide the body with a steady level of nicotine, which helps to lessen the effects of withdrawal symptoms.

Each person can get two packs at the most, but at least three days apart.

Apart from cigarette smokers, those who use e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn tobacco products are also eligible for the packs.

Fung Ying, head of the department's Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office, said the nicotine patches will be most effective in the first two weeks of quitting smoking while the effects of the withdrawal symptoms will gradually wear off from the third week.

She added that those who need a third trial kit should call the department's integrated smoking cessation hotline at 1833183 to consult healthcare professionals.

When asked how to avoid the free trial kit distribution being abused, Fung said nicotine patches are only suitable for those looking to fully quit smoking.

The distribution of nicotine patches will not replace any existing smoking cessation or counseling services, she added.

"There are statistics showing the success rate for every attempt to quit without help is three percent, but with nicotine replacement therapy, it can be up to 20 percent," she said.

Raising the tobacco tax is one of the best ways to tackle smoking, she said.

"Frankly speaking, the tobacco tax has not been raised enough," she said. "It has been raised to over 30 percent of the retail price but it still falls behind the standard recommended by the WHO, which is at 75 percent."

Hong Kong Thoracic Society president Jenny Ngai Chun-li warned that e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn tobacco products were equally harmful to the lungs as their traditional counterparts.

Citing a joint study by the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University, Ngai said smoking increased the risk of Covid-19 patients having severe symptoms by 48 percent, while the chance of hospitalization rose by 67 percent.