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“
Ratification
of the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control (FCTC) by the Federal Government would help combat the tobacco
epidemic in Australia and among our neighbours in the Asia-Pacific
region, health promotion groups said today. The
Cancer Council Australia, National Heart Foundation of Australia and
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) all congratulated the Government
for its ratification of the treaty, announced today by the new
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing,
Christopher Pyne. The
Cancer Council’s Chief Executive Officer, Professor Alan Coates,
said smoking remained the world’s biggest cause of cancer and that
in Australia alone it was responsible for more than 10,000 new cancer
cases every year. “Ratifying the FCTC commits governments to a range
of measures to improve controls on tobacco use and will help reduce
smoking’s unacceptable toll in Australia and the Asia-Pacific,”
Professor Coates said. National
Heart Foundation CEO, Dr Lyn Roberts, said smoking was a worldwide
epidemic and that the FCTC contained rules on advertising, product
contents, packaging, illicit trade and taxation, all designed to
reduce the carnage wrought by smoking. “We congratulate the
government for committing Australia to complying with its obligations
under the FCTC, which will help to alleviate the burden of heart
disease in Australia and neighbouring countries,” Ms Roberts said. ASH
Chief Executive, Anne Jones, said smoking killed more than 19,000
Australians each year and that death and disability caused by smoking
was even greater per capita among developing countries in the
Asia-Pacific. “The Government has shown strong regional leadership
by ratifying the FCTC and we look forward to continuing Government
initiatives in the fight against what is our worst, yet most
preventable, health crisis,” Ms Jones said. The
health groups had collaborated on a submission last year supporting
the signing and ratification of the FCTC. Federal
Government announcement:
www.health.gov.au/internet/wcms/publishing.nsf/Content/health-mediarel-yr2004-cp-pyn001.htm Framework
convention alliance:
www.fctc.org World
Health Organisation:
www.who.int/tobacco/framework/en/
This was a joint media release by ASH, The Cancer Council Australia and the National Heart Foundation of Australia. Media
contact: Glen
Turner, Communications Manager, The Cancer Council Australia
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Page last updated on 12/11/04 |
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