Former Hong Kong Secretary for Food and Health Joins Lecture Series

Hosted by the Institute for Global Tobacco Control (IGTC), the monthly Innovations in Tobacco Control lecture series welcomes key researchers and experts to share ideas, present their work, and spark discussion. On October 25, 2023, IGTC welcomed guest speaker Sophia Siu Chee Chan, PhD, for a lecture entitled, “Tobacco Control Policies in Hong Kong: Challenges & Opportunities.”

Professor Chan is currently Professor in Nursing and Senior Advisor to the President’s Office at The University of Hong Kong. She was appointed by the HKSAR Government to be the Secretary for Food and Health (SFH) from 2017 – 2022. During her tenure as the SFH, not only has she been fighting the COVID-19 pandemic for over 2.5 years, but she had also made exemplary efforts and policy initiatives in protecting and promoting the health of the population through major policy initiatives such as launching the Hong Kong Cancer Strategy in 2019, embarking on a new journey in primary health care by developing District Health Centres (DHCs) in each district in Hong Kong, developing the first Chinese Medicine Hospital, opening the first Children Hospital and banning E-cigarettes and heated tobacco products in Hong Kong.