Dr Choo rightly highlighted that knowledge alone is not adequate to provide motivation for behaviour change.

Smoking is a complex behaviour, involving physiological, psychological and habitual dependence. Different smokers have different motivations to smoke and stop smoking.

To address this, the Health Promotion Board's (HPB) smoking control programme uses a multi-pronged approach to make quitting and staying smoke-free an easier choice.

These 'prongs' include smoke-free legislation, tobacco taxation, public education, strategic alliances with the public and private sectors, and providing smoking cessation services. These strategies work in tandem to reduce smoking prevalence in Singapore to one of the lowest in the world.

We would like to highlight that in line with this approach, HPB implemented a successful two-phase quit- smoking campaign between March and May last year.

The first phase comprised hard-hitting graphic messages to remind smokers of the real and debilitating consequences of smoking.

This was followed by the second phase, which adopted an encouraging tone through the testimonies of former smokers and the benefits they reaped from quitting. Phases 1 and 2 of the campaign worked in tandem to motivate smokers to seek professional help to quit.

We thank Dr Choo for his feedback and assure him and the public that the HPB will continue to adopt a holistic approach to motivate smokers to quit smoking and prevent the young from picking up the habit.

Lam Pin Woon
Chief Executive Officer
Health Promotion Board