World No-Tobacco Day, 31 May 2000

31 May 2000

QUIT & WIN DRAW AT THE KICK BUTT PARTY

On World No Tobacco Day, the Committee on Smoking Control is organising a 'Kick Butt Party' at Ngee Ann City, Civic Plaza. The highlight will be the Quit & Win Draw. 863 smokers are taking part this month in the Quit & Win challenge to quit smoking.

The Guest of Honour, Mr Chan Soo Sen, Parliamentary Secretary (Prime Minister's Office and Health), will launch the concert at 7.30pm and conduct the draw for the Quit and Win winners. The concert will be hosted by Gurmit Singh and will feature performances by Shirley Yee, Two Girls, Jukevox and various dance groups.

There will be carnival activities such as body and hand painting, balloon sculpting, dunking games as well as stage games and quizzes conducted by Power 98 FM DJs Maggie & Denise from 12.30pm - 2 pm and 6pm - 7.30pm.

RETAIL OUTLETS STOP SALE OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS

257 retail outlets of Econ Minimart, NTUC Fairprice, Shop & Save, Cold Storage and Daimaru Supermarkets, as well as SOGO Department Store, Carrefour Pte Ltd and the Takashimaya souvenir shop (1st level) will show their support by stopping sales of all tobacco products on World No Tobacco Day, 31 May 2000.

This is the first time 142 Econ Minimart outlets are participating.

This activity is supported by Singapore Retailers Association and Provision Suppliers Corporation Ltd.

NATIONAL SMOKING CONTROL CAMPAIGN

QUIT RATES FOR QUITLINE CALLERS

The National Smoking Control Campaign 99 media programme used a series of three advertisements to show the damage to the aorta, lung and brain caused by cigarette smoking. A QuitLine was set up to provide personal advice for smokers who want to quit smoking.

During the campaign period from 14 May - 30 June 1999, a total of 10,754 callers called the QuitLine. Of these, 3,059 callers who were smokers agreed to a follow-up telephone survey. This survey tracked their smoking status three months and six months after the national campaign.

The results are in Annex 1. These figures are not indicative of the national quit rates, but give an indication of the effectiveness of the campaign and the QuitLine.