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The Hong Kong Smoke-free Leading Company Awards, organised by the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health (COSH), has attracted the active participation from over 2 600 companies and organisations from different sectors, and conveyed the smoke-free message to over 460 000 employees since it was first held in 2011.  COSH has also joined hands with various smoking cessation service providers to assist companies in promoting smoke-free culture and policies, organize smoke-free activities and provide smoking cessation services to smoking employees and stakeholders, so as to encourage more people to quit smoking. 

Employees are a valuable asset to companies and are particularly important to its development. Establishing a smoke-free corporate culture can effectively safeguard employee’s health, enhance work efficiency, and foster a positive image of social responsibility, thereby strengthening the cohesion and public credibility of a company.  This year, COSH specially introduced the “Smoke-Free Innovation Technology Leading Company Award” and “Outstanding Smoke-Free Construction Company Award”.  The former aims at recognizing companies or organizations that make flexible use of artificial intelligence (AI) or incorporate innovative technology elements into smoke-free promotion, which echoes the pilot AI-assisted smoking cessation counselling service launched by the Government this year; the latter rewards construction companies, organizations or sites that actively promote a smoke-free culture, which complements the legislation on comprehensive smoking ban on construction sites that took effect this year.

Hong Kong is all along recognized to be at the forefront of tobacco control in China by the National Health Commission as well as the World Health Organisation (WHO).  This year, the WHO presented me with the "World No Tobacco Day Award", affirming Hong Kong’s achievements in tobacco control.  This recognition is by no means attributable to individual, but rather the result of the collective efforts of all sectors of society over many years, encompassing the sustained efforts of government departments in legislation, taxation, publicity, education, enforcement and smoking cessation services, as well as the active participation and support of companies, organisations, healthcare professionals, community partners and the general public.  Hong Kong’s smoking prevalence rate has continued to decline from 23.3% in early 1980s to 8.5% in 2025, hitting a historic low, which reflects the remarkable effectiveness of the community’s joint efforts in tobacco control strategies, effectively safeguarding public health.  The Government will continue to adopt a multi-pronged and incremental approach to reduce the hazards caused by smoking products to the public and the society.  The Government will also encourage and assist smokers to quit through various means.  I encourage companies and organisations to actively take part in the “Hong Kong Smoke-free Leading Company Awards” and join hands in building a smoke-free Hong Kong.