Taiwan health minister enters a stop smoking competition

台灣衛生部長參加戒菸比賽

Chen has been smoking for at least 50 years


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) on Monday (March 28) entered a competition designed to help people to quit smoking.

Chen has told media many times that he has the bad habit of smoking. On Monday, he took the public by surprise by attending a press conference for the 2022 Quit & Win competition organized by the John Tung Foundation and signing up to join the competition.

Chen said in a speech during the press conference that he has been smoking for about 50 years, during which he has never really made up his mind to kick the habit, as he has kept making excuses to continue smoking.

He said what made him become serious about quitting smoking for the first time in his life was a telephone call and a letter he received more than a month ago, CNA reported. He said that at some time past 11 p.m. one day, when he had just finished his work for the day and was still in his office, he received a call from Lin Ching-li (林清麗), chief of John Tung Foundation’s tobacco control division, encouraging him to quit smoking by joining the competition. Chen added that Lin later wrote a letter to him.

Chen, who also doubles as the head of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), said that he was too timid at the time to accept the proposal right away, but since then he has been thinking about kicking the habit every day, per CNA. “It’s a big change, and it takes a lot of courage,” he said, adding that it’s a hard decision to make, according to CNA.

During the speech, he went on to say that the Ministry of Health and Welfare has recently begun to push for an amendment to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act, and as the competent authority, the ministry hopes to get more people to quit smoking.

The minister said that he could not guarantee that he would succeed in kicking the habit, but he promised to try hard. He then went on to say that it’s never too late to get started, and only those who take action stand a chance to succeed, urging young smokers to stop smoking as early as possible. He added that he expected himself to look younger if he succeeded in eradicating his bad habit.

The stop smoking competition is participated in by teams, each of which consists of a competitor who tries to quit smoking and a non-smoking witness.

Taiwan began to hold international stop smoking competitions in 2002, and according to competition statistics, 70% of participants kept clear of smoking one month after entering the competition, and 35% remained successful in their smoking cessation effort after one year, per CNA.

In this year’s competition, successful teams are eligible to enter a draw to win NT$300,000 (US$10,500).