orld No Tobacco Day on 31 May once again drew attention to the tobacco epidemic and its lethal effects to our health. Last year, the HA's 32 Smoking Counselling and Cessation Centres (SCCC) served more than 2,800 smokers by helping them to quit and enjoy a new healthy life without tobacco.

According to medical literatures, the support of doctors can increase the success rate of quitting for patients who wish to quit smoking. Some healthcare colleagues actively promote smoking cessation by always referring patients to the SCCC.

Here are some comments by Dr Wong Wah-bong, Associate Consultant (Orthopaedics and Traumatology) at North District Hospital.

"Quitting smoking is 'all pluses, no minuses' for patients. So I have always actively referred those with a smoking habit to our SCCC. It's really a pleasure for a doctor to see patients become healthier after they quit smoking!"

We hope more colleagues will participate in encouraging patients to quit smoking through the three steps — "ask, record and refer". That means colleagues should actively ask patients about their smoking habit during consultations, follow by recording through the Patients' Smoking Status Button of Clinical Management System (CMS), and refer the patients to cessation service. This will certainly help more smokers take the first step towards tobacco-free new life.