Primary health care in smoking-free of teenage on Tin Shui Wai

It is well-known that smoking endangers the health, but many people still smoke. This causes major diseases and death in Hong Kong. According to a survey done by the Census and Statistics Department (2000), the total number of smokers in Hong Kong is 793,200; 14% of smokers are aged 15 or over, and 59.6% of daily smokers started smoking before age 19. This result tells us that society is unable to prevent smoking in teenagers. Primary health care aims to take into account the social, cultural and economic needs of the community to provide strategies to prevent smoking. Indeed, smoking is a long-term problem in the community. Collaboration from many different sectors in the community is needed to promote a smoke-free society. We propose a two-year health promotion program to enhance a smoking-free mentality in teenagers. The objective of this program is to create a smoking-free community; enhance the policy and law for sale and advertising of cigarettes to teenagers; communicate with schools to promote the program for students; collaborate with the mass media in promoting a smoking-free message and to educate parents on being good role models who promote the smokingfree message to their children. According to the Census and Statistics Department (2006), Tin Shui Wai is an expanding community in Hong Kong with a rapidly increasing population. The youth smoking problem is also very serious in this community. Therefore we plan to enforce our smoking free program in the Tin Shui Wai community. This programme will enable adolescents to receive information on the harmful effects of smoking and provide a social environment for them to choose healthier lifestyles (O' Connor- Fleming & Parker, 2001).