Plain punch call (note 1) in smokes fight

Plain punch call (note 1) in smokes fight

The SAR has won top marks (高度評價) for its anti-tobacco strategy (反吸菸運動) in the latest World Health Organization global report, released last night.

But it still has to lead the way (領導群雄) in Asia for plain cigarette packaging to reduce (note 2) tobacco use and cut its "deadly toll (死亡人數)," the UN health agency said. Hong Kong was a pioneer (先鋒) in graphic health warnings, which were introduced in 2006 - a year after the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control was ratified (通過) by more than 170 nations.

The third WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic or MPOWER3 - a report card on how countries implement the convention - was released in Montevideo, Uruguay.

MPOWER refers to six measures: "Monitor tobacco use, protect people from (note 3) tobacco smoke, offer help to quit tobacco use, warn about the dangers of tobacco, enforce bans on tobacco advertisement, promotion and sponsorship, and raise taxes."

WHO Tobacco Free Initiative director Douglas Bettcher said that, since the last report in 2009, "the big picture is unchanged (總形勢沒有改變)." "Having killed 100 million people during the 20th century, the [tobacco] epidemic (病原) could kill up to 1 billion during the 21st," he said.

Statistics for Hong Kong are issued together with those for China, as the territory is not a UN member-state (會員國). But the WHO Western Pacific Region said data show that Hong Kong has the lowest prevalence rates (note 4) for smoking in the region.

Its male smoking prevalence of 20.8 percent compares favorably for instance to the mainland, where the figure is 52.9 percent. With tobacco duty hikes (note 5), the cost of cigarettes has increased to HK$50, which is comparable to Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. In the Western Pacific, the only places that carry graphic health warnings on packets are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, New Zealand, Malaysia, Mongolia and Singapore.

From good to better English:

(note 1) punch call=強力呼籲。put more punch into=加強。Punch=用拳頭打，毆打。There was not much punch in Donald Tsang’s remarks=特首的話沒啥力量。Fruit punch=多味果汁飲料。Call=召集、號召。Call a meeting 召集會議。

(note 2) reduce tobacco use=減少吸菸人數。Reduce=減輕，縮短。reduce production=減少生產。 at a reduced price=廉價。

(note 3) protect people from=保護市民。Protect=包庇，守護。protect youngsters from danger=保護青少年免遭危險。Trade protectionism=help (domestic industry) with tariffs or quotas on imported goods (貿易保護主義)。 (note 4) prevalence rates=吸煙人數比率。Prevalence(名詞)=流行，盛行，普遍。Prevalent(形容詞)=盛行，(同義詞有current, predominant, prevailing, rife, widespread)。

(note 5) duty hikes=加稅。Hike=長途徒步旅行(go on a hike)。a pay hike plan=加薪方案。

Victor’s View: I strongly urge the government and legislators to do more to protect our citizens from “passive smoking”. Prevention is always better than cure. When fewer people contract lung cancer, it actually will save the government money in health care expenditure. When we wait for a bus at a bus stop, we’d inhale cigarette smoke that a smoker exhales. There is no escape. Why should we be forced to “second-hand smoke”? Where are our rights?

(Victor Fung Keung, director of HK Baptist University’s M.A. in international journalism program, has published 3 books on English-enhancement and plans to write 7 more by the end of 2012. Write to him: deanfungenglish@gmail.com)