The effectiveness of tobacco control policy among Australian Indigenous
The implementation of tobacco-control policy in Australia has a significant reduction in smoking prevalence for Australian aged 14 years and older from 24.3% in 1991 to 15.1% in 2010.1 This placing Australia among the lowest in the world.2 A remarkable exception is the most disadvantaged groups including the Australia’s Indigenous, among whom tobacco smoking rate reaches 47,7% in 2013.3 The uneven distribution of the effectiveness of tobacco control policy among Indigenous Australian brings repercussion in steepening social gradient in tobacco use which may lead to tobacco stigmatization.4
Socio-economic and socio-cultural factors contribute barriers in attempting smoking
Tobacco has and still is the most important public health issue faced in Australia and internationally. (Jochelson, 2006). Many countries such as North America, England, Australia, Canada and Ireland have introduced policies regarding smoking in public areas and restriction of smoking in indoor areas. (Thomson, Wilson & Edwards, 2009). The government, community leaders and policy makers work towards introducing policies that will stop consumers from smoking in public areas. (Pizacani, maher, Rohde, Drach & Stark, 2012). Government intervention should extend public smoking bans so that second hand smokers can be safe, a better environment and less death incidents relating to smoking.
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH, 2007; Richardson (2001) argued that manual groups are likely to smoke heavier than the managerial groups and stated likely reason for this such as food insecurity, substitute for food, social environment, segregation and pressure, lack of good health and lack of confidence. In addition to this, epidemiology statistics reported by Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC, 2013 and Wanless, 2004) stated that smoking is more prevalent among the lower socio-economic groups and known to be key part of the disparities in life expectation between manual and non-manual groups. Therefore it is important something is done to eradicate inequality in the health of the general population.
Smoking is recognised as the largest single preventable cause of death and disease in Australia. It is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, emphysema, bronchitis, asthma, renal disease and eye disease. Tobacco contains the powerfully addictive stimulant nicotine, which can make smoking a regular and long-term habit that is not easy to quit (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014). Statistics show
This is essentially why the Council of Australia created a partnership between all levels of Government, to work with the aboriginal communities to ‘close the gap. In 2012, the “close the gap” campaign, managed by Mr Justin Mohamed chair of the NACCHO, stated that the smoking rate of aboriginals is at 47% and in 2013 the ‘close the gap’ campaign has activities in place such as “Develop Regional Implementation”, which “cut down smoking by 20%” of those over the age of 15 who smoke. This has decreased the chance of cancer and lowers mortality rates and is slowly closing the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous men and women of Australia. The new anti-smoking campaign for 2016 was released on the 2nd of May, which looks at smoking in all Australian people and has also included advertisements with indigenous people talking about their aim to be healthy and give up smoking and not to become a statistic. According to the Victorian Health Department, indigenous people over the age of 15, are “2.8 times more likely to be daily smokers” (Healthgovau, 2016)than any
“Smoking rates have halved in Australians over the past 30 years, falling below 16%. Except for in Indigenous populations, smoking rates have remained at more than twice this level, with even higher rates reported in remote communities” (RACGP, 2013) The inequality that has been faced by Indigenous people is still at an unacceptable level, and has “been identified as a human rights concern by the United Nations” (Dick, 2007). Smoking is a major issue because, “it is the most preventable contributor to the gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples” (Ivers, 2011). “Smoking contributes to 17% of the life expectancy gap” (Australian Government: Department for Health and Welfare, 2011). The socio-economic disadvantage faced by Indigenous people leads to the addiction of tobacco, which can be caused by many factors including; their position on the social gradient, education, social exclusion, their employment status and their social support. There is a lack of developed personal skills on the health risks of tobacco, “some Aboriginals don’t identify smoking as a health issue” (Korff, 2014), due to the history of Aboriginal people around smoking. As well as first hand smoke, passive smoking also contributes to poor health, especially for children. Smoking is the major cause for heart disease, stroke, some cancers, lung diseases and a variety of other conditions (HealthInfoNet.ecu.edu.au, 2013). “If we could reduce tobacco consumption levels
This study examined the health inequalities among different socio-economic groups from 2004 to 2014 among Australians whose age ranging from 20 to 65 years old. According to the study, the health risk factor behaviour; smoking by sex results indicated that males smoking were higher than females during the study period. The highest rate of smoking were reported among males in 2004. Smoking status by education groups suggested that the highest rate of smoking were accounted in year 12 or below group in all three years, while university degree holders accounted for the least group. The different income groups showed that the poorest people smoking percentage were higher compared to the richest and the percentage had increased when it was moving
Tobacco has existed for long as we have known about history, but due to the negative effects of it to the broader community Tobacco has sparked greater controversy across the globe. Many people argue that it is the government’s responsibility to protect the individual but on the contrary some disagree and believe it’s up to the individual. This essay will elaborate above mentioned aspects and lead to a logical conclusion.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2008), (from which most figures in this paper are sourced from) the Aboriginal community faces higher rates of ill health than any other group in Australia. From the estimate of an average of 450,000 Aborigines in Australia, it is observed that when compared to other communities, this community faces enhanced problems of chronic illness and problems from cigarette smoking in addition to other health issues.
Researching the issue of smoking and tobacco addiction in Russia has allowed me to learn more about the history and culture of the country, and increase my understanding about the effects of smoking in Russian-speaking communities. Although no one in my close family smokes, I was surrounded by smokers when growing up and the issue of smoking remained unaddressed until I moved to Australia, where there are many anti-smoking campaigns and education about the effect of drugs on the mind and body. After researching the topic, I realised that my knowledge and understanding about this issue had been very minor before conducting this investigation.
The Tobacco Products Control Act of 1989 sought to impose restrictions on the promotion of tobacco products. These restrictions concerned limitations in three commercial categories: advertisement, promotion, and labelling. Under the Act, tobacco products cannot be advertised, and products must be labeled with viable health warnings and a list of toxins. The packaging must be minimal, as to not be ostentatious to persuade Canadians from buying. Furthermore, the Act would prohibit the distribution of free samples. Appellants RJR-Macdonald Inc. dissented, stating the Act was a direct infringement upon the Charter’s s.2 freedom of expression clause, and appellant Imperial Tobacco Ltd. further dissented.
94th General Assembly State of Illinois 2005 “Tobacco Control Act” HB 1296 introduced 2/9/2005 by Rep. Paul D. Froehlich.
Indigenous Australians have a lower life expectancy than non-Indigenous populations (Le Grand et al. 2017, p. 164). This may be due to a failure to implement effective treatment for Indigenous-specific issues (Vos et al. 2009, p. 475). Indigenous-specific health care services are necessary, as they provide programs that address said issues (Harifield et al. 2018, p.1). Despite the Australian Government implementing
Cigarettes are the number one cause of death in the U.S. and yet they are still on the shelves. People know the damage tobacco does to the body, and yet they still continue to smoke, chew, and sniff it. Cigarettes and tobacco products needs to be criminalized. Smoking is the number one cause of cancer in the United States. About 50 million people smoke cigarettes in the United States.
In the UK, smoking persists as the leading cause of avoidable death and disability and a key modifiable risk factor for the development of a range of diseases including cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive airways disease and some cancers (WHO, 2008; Murray et al., 2013). However, despite a reported decline in smoking prevalence in the UK (ONS, 2016), levels of smoking in prisoner groups are two to three times greater than in the general population and have remained intractably high (Singleton et al., 1999; Lester et al., 2003; Papadodima at al., 2009). As a consequence, prison populations experience far worse health outcomes than in the general population (Biswanger et al., 2014) and subsequently tobacco control policy in prisons
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (“Act”) signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2009 does not violate the First Amendment in regards to tobacco product advertisements.