Smoke-free public housing to cut health, repair costs

The savings can be channeled to other investments.

A proposal to ban smoking inside Hong Kong’s public flats would not only reduce hospital costs from smoking-related diseases but also the price of maintenance and repairs from cigarette-related fires, analysts said.

Patrick Fung, CEO at non-profit Clean Air Network, said studies in the US have shown that banning smoking in public housing could save $1.04b (US$134m) in renovation costs and $410.8m (US$53m) in smoking-related healthcare expenses.

“Locally, a ban is also likely to reduce maintenance costs,” he told Hong Kong Business via Zoom. “However, we do not have estimates as to the extent.”

Hong Kong has seen several smoking-related fires in public housing, including in 2023 a resident smoking in bed caused a fire in Sai Wan Ho, said Lawrence Iu, executive director at think tank Civic Exchange.

The Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health’s proposed ban would also help lower public health costs, allowing the savings to be channeled to other investments, he said via Zoom.

The economic cost of tobacco-related diseases in Hong Kong was $9.8b (US$1.27b), or 0.3% of economic output, Iu said, citing data from 2021.

“If we can promote long term, smoke-free floors, it cannot just reduce the health risk but it also can reduce the money [used]  to refurbish the public estate after some major fire incidents caused by smoking,” Iu said.

A third of primary students are exposed to secondhand smoke at home, the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health said in its proposal to the Medical and Health Bureau, citing a University of Hong Kong study.

Although smoking has been banned in shared and communal areas of public housing estates since 2007, there are no rules governing smoking inside flats.

Fung said Hong Kong should require air quality monitoring indoors, noting that the tech has matured and is more affordable now. “People stay indoors for relatively longer periods of time. Shouldn’t there be more attention in this area?”

Fung said smoke-free floors could encourage other housing operators in Hong Kong to follow suit, adding that more people want this on top of sustainable flats.