DH to hold 2024 Chinese medicine acupuncture and moxibustion smoking cessation service training seminar
The Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office (TACO) of the Department of Health (DH) today (19 July) held the Training Workshop on Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncture Smoking Cessation Services 2024. The training workshop will provide acupuncture training to 138 frontline Traditional Chinese Medicine (CM) practitioners to improve their skills in providing CM acupuncture cessation services.
TACO invited CM workers from mainland China and Macau to participate in this year’s workshop to strengthen knowledge exchange on tobacco control with medical professionals from mainland China and Macau and share local experiences in providing smoking cessation services. The training contents covered smoking cessation counseling, CM smoking cessation mechanisms and treatment plans, and acupuncture and auricular therapy technique demonstration, further equipping frontline CM workers with the knowledge and skills they need to provide smoking cessation treatment. Among the participants, 114 frontline CM workers were from mainland China and Macau; 98 of them were recommended by the Guangdong Province Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Research has shown that acupuncture, combined with auricular therapy and expert counselling, can effectively alleviate withdrawal symptoms and short-term discomfort that smokers may experience when they begin to quit smoking, thereby increasing the success rate of quitting. Experience from the DH-funded CM Acupuncture Smoking Cessation Service run by Pokuoi Hospital shows that abstinence rates (i.e. the proportion of service users who self-reported having maintained abstinence in the past 7 days) 52 weeks after the quit date exceeded 20%, comparable to smoking cessation services using nicotine replacement therapy.
The Ministry of Health has also introduced herbal ear acupressure patches to assist with smoking cessation as part of this year’s “Quit Smoking in June” campaign. Stimulating the acupressure points by applying watercress seeds to the surface of the ear reduces the discomfort associated with nicotine withdrawal, especially during the early stages of quitting smoking. People wishing to quit smoking can receive the herbal ear acupressure patch free of charge at over 40 Chinese medicine clinics across Hong Kong. They can also register for free herbal and acupuncture smoking cessation services at any time, or after trying the herbal ear acupressure patch for two weeks. The public can find out more about quitting smoking and the support tools and services available by calling 1833 183 or visiting the smoking cessation-themed website, www.livetobaccofree.hk.
DH has been the regional hub to support smoking cessation treatment and training in services since it was mandated by the World Health Organization to establish a Collaborating Centre for Smoking Cessation and Tobacco Dependence Treatment in April 2012. In addition to annual training programmes on tobacco control for tobacco control workers in the Western Pacific region, TACO also regularly organises smoking cessation treatment training courses to increase the capacity of local health professionals to provide smoking cessation support.
DH is committed to further strengthening cooperation and communication with mainland China on tobacco control, continuously providing anti-smoking training and support, and jointly promoting the construction of a smoke-free Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
DH to hold 2024 TCM Acupuncture Smoking Cessation Service Training Workshop Source: Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government Press Release
Today is Regional Flag Day
Three charities have been issued public permits to hold flag sales from 7am to 12.30pm today (July 20): Make-A-Wish Foundation Hong Kong Ltd in Hong Kong Island, Community Medical Care in Kowloon and Hong Kong Women’s Advancement Association Ltd in the New Territories, a Social Welfare Department (SWD) spokesman said.
Arrangements have been made in collaboration with charities to enable people to distinguish between the three flag sales activities.
As of July 20th, information on the three flag sales organizations is as follows:
Details of the charitable fundraising activities covered by issued public offering permits, including updates, are published on the Hong Kong Government website at www.gov.hk/en/theme/fundraising/search. Flag Day permits, including contact methods for flag selling organisations and information on approved flag selling activities, have also been uploaded on the Hong Kong Flag Office website at www.swd.gov.hk/en/ngo/controlofc/flagdays for your reference. For enquiries, please call the Hong Kong Flag Office hotline at 2343 2255 or the 1823 Call Centre’s designated hotline at 3142 2678.
If people suspect any Flag Day activities are fraudulent, they should not donate and should immediately report the matter to police, the spokesman added.
Source: AI-generated image
