China may send text messages to help people quit smoking

(ECNS) - China could launch a mobile platform next year to help people quit smoking, said Xiao Dan, director of the Institute of Respiratory Medicine at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing, on Thursday.

A study in 2018 showed that text messages sent three to five times a day or per week were effective in helping smokers kick a tobacco habit compared to those who received no digital motivation, Xiao said.

The platform would be supported by the World Health Organization, according to Xiao, and work is underway to create a series of text messages suitable to send to the mobile phones of smokers. 

Xiao reiterated that many studies show that giving up smoking can reduce or eliminate health risks for smokers at any age. 

Data show that approximately four percent of smokers in China were willing to stop smoking in 1984 and the figure rose to 16 percent in 2018, still far behind the ready-to-quit rate in Western countries, Xiao said.