蘇格蘭煙民戒煙可獲現金獎勵

Smokers in deprived parts of the city of Dundee areto be paid to kick the habit in an initiative between public health organizations, municipal authorities and the Scottish government.

The pilot scheme to be tried in Dundee, north of Edinburgh, will see smokers offered 12.50 pounds per week to quit. Health bosses hope that 900 smokers will give up as a result in the next two years.

The money will be credited onto an electronic card, which they can redeem at their local supermarket for fresh food and other groceries, but not cigarettes and alcohol, local health body NHS said.

The money will be available for up to 12 weeks, with participants receiving nicotine replacement therapy through their local pharmacy, where they will also undergo weekly carbon monoxide tests to prove they have not succumbed.

If successful, the scheme could be rolled out across Scotland, which has high instances of coronary heart disease and cancer linked to smoking and poor diet, particularly in the "central belt" between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The Scottish government in Edinburgh banned smoking in public places such as pubs and restaurants, in March 2006.

英國蘇格蘭敦提市目前在該市貧民區推廣了一項新的戒煙計劃，戒煙者將獲得現金獎勵。這項計劃由英國公共衞生機構和蘇格蘭敦提市政府共同推出。

愛丁堡北部城市敦提啟動的這項試點計劃為準備戒煙的人每週提供12.5英鎊的獎金。公共衞生官員希望在接下來的兩年間能有900位煙民戒掉煙癮。

當地國民健康保險服務部表示，獎金將被打到一張電子卡上，戒煙者可以用卡消費，在超市裏購買新鮮食物或者其他雜物，但是不能用於購買煙酒。

整個獎勵計劃將持續12周。在此期間，戒煙者還要在當地診所接受“尼古丁替代物”的治療，鞏固戒煙成果。他們還必須一週接受一次“一氧化碳測試”，以證實自己在這一週內確實沒有再吸煙。

如果這一獎勵計劃獲得成效，政府將在整個蘇格蘭地區推廣。在蘇格蘭地區，尤其是愛丁堡和格拉斯哥這一“中心地帶”，居民們患冠心病和癌症的機率比其他地區更高，而這些病症的元兇之一就是尼古丁。

蘇格蘭政府自2006年3月起就在酒吧、餐廳等公共場所實行禁煙。