Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ10: Tobacco control policy
Following is a question by the Hon Andrew Cheng and a written reply by the
Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council
today (May 23):
Question:
As there are cases of overseas governments filing lawsuits against tobacco
companies there, will the Government inform this Council whether:
(a) it has collated details of the lawsuits filed in recent years by overseas
governments and community organizations against tobacco companies there in
relation to diseases caused by smoking; if so, of the details of each case in
the past five years in which judgment was made in favour of the plaintiff(s),
including the country where the lawsuit was filed, the plaintiff(s), the grounds
for bringing the lawsuit and the court ruling;
(b) it is aware of the lawsuits filed in the past two years by the British
Columbia Government in Canada against a number of tobacco companies there to
recover the health care expenditure on diseases caused by smoking; if so, of the
details; and
(c) it has assessed the amount of public health care expenditure spent in Hong
Kong annually on diseases caused by smoking, and whether it will study the
prospect of success in recovering the relevant expenditure through lawsuits
against tobacco companies?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) The Government comes to know about the lawsuits filed by overseas
governments against tobacco companies from public domain sources. Many of these
lawsuits were instituted in recent years, now still pending the final outcomes.
For details of these cases, please refer to the sources listed in the Annex.
(b) The Government knows from public domain sources that the British Columbia
Government in Canada has filed lawsuits against tobacco companies for
production, promotion and sale of tobacco products pursuant to The Tobacco
Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act since 2001. It is understood that the
final outcomes of these lawsuits are still pending.
(c) The Government has not made any assessment on the public healthcare cost in
Hong Kong on smoking-induced diseases. However, we believe that the significant
extension of statutory smoking ban with effect from January 1, this year will
help reduce passive smoking and smoking-related health hazards. According to the
research findings published by the Department of Community Medicine, School of
Public Health, University of Hong Kong in February 2005, it was estimated that
the prevailing annual healthcare cost from tobacco use in Hong Kong amounted to
$2.6 billion.
It has been the Government's tobacco control policy to seek, through a
step-by-step approach, to contain tobacco use and minimise its impact on public
health by adopting a wide array of measures comprising publicity, health
education, taxation, legislation and law enforcement. To that end, sustained
efforts will be made as necessary to enhance the tobacco control measures in the
light of public demands. At this stage, the Government has no plan to control
tobacco use through civil proceedings against tobacco sale.
Ends/Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Issued at HKT 13:01
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Annex to LCQ10