Media backgrounder  
   
TOBACCO IN AUSTRALIA

A media backgrounder from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Australia

   

 

Tobacco – still our No. 1 preventable health and No. 1 drug problem

 

Australian children at risk

  • 36 Australian babies and children under 15 years old die each year from involuntary (in utero  and secondhand) intake of tobacco smoke.    Collins & Lapsley (2008) above 

  • Over 60,000 hospital bed days a year occupied by children as a result of tobacco exposure.   Collins & Lapsley (2008) above

  • Tobacco smoke is now the leading preventable cause of SIDS deaths.  See 2007 research review at  www.ashaust.org.au/pdfs/SIDSlancet06.pdf 

  • Over 140,000 (9% of) Australian schoolchildren smoke at least weekly – 18% of 17-year-olds; and children have ready access to cigarettes: 23% of schoolchildren aged 12-17 (and 29% of 16-year-olds) are supplied illegally by shops.     2005 secondary schools survey at  www.nationaldrugstrategy.gov.au/internet/drugstrategy/publishing.nsf/Content/mono59

 

Smoking costs Australia a staggering $31bn a year

Real social costs of smoking are conservatively estimated to be as high as $31b a year (see above). And who pays?

  • Business and Governments – in health care costs, absenteeism, and lost productivity.

  • Smokers – half of all long-term smokers will eventually be killed by tobacco – losing an average of 10 years; and half of these will die during productive middle age, losing 20-25 years of life.   Doll R et al (June 2004), "Mortality in relation to smoking: 50 years' observations on male British doctors" in BMJ  2004;328:1519 (26 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.38142.554479.AE

  • Non-smokers – babies born to smoking mothers have lower birth weights and an increased risk of SIDS and respiratory diseases. In addition, substantial costs can be incurred where people are exposed to tobacco smoke in workplaces and public places.    Collins & Lapsley, “Counting the Cost” (above)

 

Australians want better tobacco control

Opinion polls consistently show health at or near the top of the list of Federal election issues – with cancer and heart disease the No. 1 and No. 2 disease concerns. As the electorate knows, tobacco is the biggest preventable factor in both these diseases.  

The 2007 National Drug Strategy Household Survey of almost 25,000 Australians aged 12 and over showed very strong and increasing public support for measures to reduce problems caused by smoking. Support for these measures has increased again since last survey and now shows:  

  • 90.1% support stricter enforcement of laws against illegal tobacco sales to minors; 

  • 87.5% support stricter penalties for sale to minors; 

  • 82% support banning smoking in the workplace; 

  • 77% support banning smoking in pubs and clubs;

  • 73.6% want bans on retail display of tobacco products; 

  • 71.6% support implementation of a licensing scheme for tobacco retailers;  

  • 68.6% support increasing tax on tobacco to contribute to treatment costs; 67.1% support increasing this tax to pay for health education; and 65.7% to discourage smoking; and  

  • 66.4% want it made harder to buy tobacco in shops.  

See  www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10579 - Table 4.1, p.41     

In addition, a survey of 400 Australians by the University of WA in August 2007 showed:

  • 94% support full information about cigarette ingredients being made available to the public;
  • 75% support anti-smoking advertisements to be screened before movies that promote smoking; and
  • 78% support an end to tobacco company donations to political parties.

See AMA / ACOSH media release 16/10/07 at www.ama.com.au/web.nsf/doc/WEEN-77ZV3Y 

 

Anti-smoking campaigns SAVE money – and they work!

  • Evidence shows that effective smoking reduction programs can cut tobacco’s death-and disease toll, and can also yield clear economic benefits in the short to medium term.

  • Example: The National Tobacco Campaign has been identified in a Commonwealth Health Department report as the most cost-effective intervention to reduce cancer deaths and disabilities, saving $2 for every $1 spent over 40 years. Based on evaluation of the NTC’s first stage, where spending of $8.95m over six months led to cost savings of nearly $40m, the report concludes that an effective campaign would pay for itself four times over.  
    See www.quitnow.info.au/hotspot/sof.html

  • The NTC has contributed to the first reduction in adult smoking prevalence in almost 10 years. Some US states have reduced daily smoking rates below 15%. We can do likewise – but only with sustainable funding for a comprehensive strategy.  

  • An evaluation of the economic impact of California’s comprehensive tobacco control programme has found it reduced personal health care costs in the state by $86 billion during it’s first 15 years. These savings translate to a 50-fold return on the $1.8 billion cost of the programme.  Cancer Council NSW

  • Further investment in tobacco control will curb increasing PBS costs and help government efforts to ensure the viability of Australia’s health financing programs. See Hurley, S et al in MJA, Sept. 2004 at  www.mja.com.au/public/issues/181_05_060904/hur10462_fm.html  

 

Better tobacco control can improve social equity

June 2004 macroeconomic study by Junor et al, commissioned by Cancer Council NSW, shows that tobacco prevention does not “penalise the poor”. In fact, tobacco use hits poorest families hardest and well-designed tobacco control strategies - including increased tobacco taxes - can benefit them most of all.

See the Junor et al (2004) study at  www.cancercouncil.com.au/editorial.asp?pageid=1891 

 

Australia's international responsibility

Worldwide, tobacco causes over five million preventable deaths a year. Unless urgent action is taken, one billion will die in the 21st century.

Australia is bound by international law to take comprehensive action against the global tobacco epidemic. We have ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) -
a World Health Organisation convention, ratified by over 160 countries, and representing an historic opportunity for global action. Australia ratified the treaty in October 2004 and it took effect worldwide from 27/2/05.    See summary of  Governments' responsibilities to the FCTC

 

Why act now?

  • Australia must raise tobacco taxes or smoking rate fall will falter. A 2009 study warns that quit rates will need to double for the Australian smoking rate to fall to 10% by 2020. At present quit and initiation rates, the daily smoking rate will fall from the present 17% only to around 14%. The University of Queensland study has been published online in Tobacco Control  journal. The authors point to the need to raise tobacco taxes to drive smoking rates down.  See  abstract  and  accepted manuscript 

  • The Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (see above) has been ratified by Australia and represents an historic opportunity for a whole-of-government approach - federal, state, territory and local - to curbing the tobacco epidemic in Australia, the Pacific region and globally.   

  • A Treasury report on Australia’s Demographic Challenges warns that with an ageing population, low retention rates and rising health care costs, rebalancing towards preventive medicine is critical and represents “value for money”.     See http://demographics.treasury.gov.au

 

More information:

 

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Australia

Website: www.ashaust.org.au   Ph. ASH media: (02) 9334-1823 or m. 0412-070-194

Smokefree workplaces:  More at www.ashaust.org.au/SF'03

 

  
 

Page last updated 6/4/09