KE Spotlight - Community Engagement - HKU Knowledge Exchange

The Council on Smoking and Health, HKU and HKBU researchers call for complete ban of e-cigarettes

The Council on Smoking and Health (COSH) commissioned Baptist University to carry out a laboratory test on the components of thirteen e-cigarettes in the market from October 2015 to February 2016. The test confirmed that e-cigarettes contain harmful chemicals including carcinogens that are hazardous to health. COSH had earlier commissioned the HKU School of Public Health and Public Opinion Programme to conduct respectively the Tobacco Control Policy-related Survey and an opinion survey to interview over 5,000 respondents to monitor the prevalence of e-cigarette use and measure public opinion on its ban in Hong Kong. It was found that 68% of users did not know what they inhaled. Although only 0.2% of respondents had used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days, the rate (7.9%) among young current smokers aged 15 to 29 years was significantly higher than that of current smokers aged 30 years or above. The majority of respondents supported various regulatory measures on e-cigarettes. The Government is urged to enact total ban on e-cigarettes promptly to prevent its epidemic and stop it from becoming the gateway to youth smoking in Hong Kong.

HKU Faculty of Medicine publishes free book on rare bone disorders

The HKU Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, in collaboration with NGO Little People of Hong Kong, has published 3,000 copies of "Understanding Rare Bone Disorders" for primary and secondary schools and hospitals in Hong Kong. They hope to raise awareness of skeletal dysplasia through educating the public of patients' needs. Assistant Dean Professor Danny Chan said patients have been facing a lot of discrimination in Hong Kong and that it is hard to change the views of the older generation. He hopes teachers could use the book to educate the new generation and change their perceptions.

HKU reports findings of school-based smoking survey

The HKU School of Public Health was commissioned by the Food and Health Bureau to conduct a school-based smoking survey among Hong Kong primary 4-6 and secondary 1-6 school students from October 2014 to April 2015 to investigate the prevalence and pattern of smoking among primary and secondary school students. Data were collected from 15,658 primary school students in 80 primary schools and 40,202 secondary school students in 93 secondary schools. According to the findings, 2.8% of the primary school students had ever smoked and 0.2% are current smokers. The current smoking prevalence among secondary school students (2.7%) was lower than that in 2012-13 (3.0%). The smoking habit of e-cigarettes was also surveyed. Among the respondents, 2.6% and 9% of the primary and secondary school students respectively had smoked e-cigarettes, and 1.3% of the secondary school students surveyed are currently e-cigarette users. The Government is considering legislation seeking to ban e-cigarettes import, manufacture, sale, distribution and advertising.

"Dissecting the Meaning of Life – An Anthology of Essays on Body Donation" shortlisted in the 27th Secondary School Students' Best Ten Books Election

The book "Dissecting the Meaning of Life–An Anthology of Essays on Body Donation" has been selected as one of the shortlisted titles of the 27th Secondary School Students' Best Ten Books Election in Hong Kong. The book was initiated by the HKU Body Donation Programme, which was co-ordinated by Dr Lap Ki Chan, Associate Professor of the Institute of Medical and Health Sciences Education (IMHSE) and School of Biomedical Sciences. It was supported by the HKU Knowledge Exchange Fund and IMHSE.

HKU Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy hosts Drug Information Day

HKU Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy of Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine hosted a Drug Information Day at Un Chau Estate, Cheung Sha Wan on August 30, 2015. About 600 people attended. A talk was given on the myth about antibiotics. Students also explained the use of antibiotics to members of the public. Registered pharmacists answered questions the public had about their medication.

HKU Faculty of Medicine offers first-aid training to domestic helpers

Bringing emergency medicine to the community, HKU Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine and medical students organised talks and workshops on first aid for 300 domestic helpers. The purpose is to empower them with basic life support skills, namely bystander CPR and choking management, for the elderly. According to a local study, the mean age of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients in Hong Kong was 71.5 years and 66% of cases happened at home. Dr Fan Kit-ling, Clinical Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine Unit, said that each one minute of delayed rescue would lower the survival rate by 7%-10% in case of a cardiac arrest. If CPR is performed immediately, the chance of survival will increase by two to three times.

Knowledge Exchange Awards 2015

The Faculty Knowledge Exchange (KE) Awards were introduced in 2011 in order to recognize each Faculty’s outstanding KE accomplishment that has made demonstrable economic, social or cultural impacts to benefit the community, business/industry, or partner organizations. Results of the 2015 Faculty KE Awards are now available.