Dr Wang Man-ping, Associate Professor of the School of Nursing, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong (HKUMed), and his team have won the Faculty Knowledge Exchange (KE) Award in 2022. On the team were: Professor Lam Tai-hing, Emeritus Professor and Dr Daniel Ho Sai-yin, Associate Professor from the School of Public Health; Dr Derek Cheung Yee-tak, Assistant Professor, Dr Kevin Luk Tzu-tsun, Research Assistant Professor and Dr Socrates Wu Yongda, Postdoctoral Fellow from the School of Nursing.
The team’s project, “Saving Our Next Generation from Tobacco and Nicotine Addiction”, has provided significant empirical evidence to support the HKSAR Government’s amendments to the Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance for a total ban of alternative tobacco products (ATPs), which were passed by the Legislative Council on 21 October 2021. The amended legislation came into effect on 30 April 2022, marking a significant milestone for the advancement of public health in Hong Kong. The team has been working closely with the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health (COSH) to push for the total ban of ATPs by boosting public awareness and support through a multi-pronged media campaign. Health information was disseminated through press briefings and conferences, health hazards of smoking and ATPs explained on TV programmes, radio and newspaper interviews, as well as online platforms to maximise public exposure.
The team’s evidence on ATPs epidemiology and hazards have also produced influence beyond Hong Kong. Their research findings have been cited by World Health Organization’s seventh and eighth reports on the scientific basis of tobacco product regulation and the US National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine report on public health consequences of e-cigarettes. Overseas tobacco control agencies, including one of the most famous organisations in the United States, Tobacco-Free Kids, have also cited the HKUMed team’s evidence on the harmful effects of ATPs.
The Faculty KE Award was established in 2011 with the aim to encourage Faculty members to share the fruits of their research and teaching with the wider community. This annual award accords recognition to Faculty members who have made distinguished KE achievements and promotes knowledge exchange between the Faculty and community members, businesses, industries and partner organisations for the benefit of the society.
Dr Kris Lok Yuet-wan, Assistant Professor of the School of Nursing, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong (HKUMed), has won the Faculty Knowledge Exchange (KE) Award in 2021 for her project, “Baby-Friendly Community Initiative Program – Development of a new breastfeeding GPS app”. Under the three-year Baby-Friendly Community Initiative (BFCI) programme, the research team led by Dr Lok has reached out to 2,000 mothers and 2,000 staff and management in public venues to collect feedback and suggestions about breastfeeding in public venues. This knowledge was subsequently shared with Government working groups and professional bodies, which in turn provided guidance for business and strategic planning on breastfeeding promotion. Such efforts included providing educational tips on breastfeeding via Facebook and Instagram pages, and organizing breastfeeding workshops for mothers. The research team also raised public awareness of and promoted the breastfeeding mobile app by giving interviews to the local media. In addition, training workshops for shopping mall staff were offered to help enhancing their knowledge of and attitude towards breastfeeding.
The Faculty KE Award was established in 2011 with the aim to encourage Faculty members to share the fruits of their research and teaching with the wider community. This annual award accords recognition to Faculty members who have made distinguished KE achievements and promotes knowledge exchange between the Faculty and community members, businesses, industries and partner organisations for the benefit of the society.
Professor Keiji Fukuda, Director and Clinical Professor of the School of Public Health, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong (HKUMed), and his team won the Faculty Knowledge Exchange (KE) Award in 2020. On the team were: Ms Bernadette Tsui, Associate Vice-President (Development & Alumni Affairs) of Development and Alumni Affairs Office, Professor Chan Yuen-Ying, Honorary Professor of Technology-Enriched Learning Initiative, and Mr Laurence Tang Yat-long, Project Manager (HKU Fight COVID-19 website) of Development and Alumni Affairs Office.
The impact of the team’s project, “Combating COVID-19 through Knowledge Exchange”, has been evidenced by the HKSAR Government and professional bodies drawing on the research from the team and expert advice to guide their pandemic policy formation and interventions. The team helped influencing individuals’ risk perception, discerning rumours, raising public awareness and in turn shaping the evolution of the outbreak through different ways, including sharing knowledge in seminars, webinars and private consultations, press conferences, press releases and media interviews, organising KE workshops and webinars, and active KE online communications (websites, live dialogues, videos, Q&As), etc.. The timely public awareness campaign helped the general public acquire necessary knowledge about the coronavirus, and contributed to the high level of public awareness and compliance with public health measures in Hong Kong. Preventive measures were enforced spontaneously based on social norms with local or personal context considered. This bottom-up approach played a major role in Hong Kong’s success in keeping the number of infected cases low.
The Faculty KE Award was established in 2011 with the aim to encourage Faculty members to share the fruits of their research and teaching with the wider community. This annual award accords recognition to Faculty members who have made distinguished KE achievements and promotes knowledge exchange between the Faculty and community members, businesses, industries and partner organisations for the benefit of the society.