Anti-tobacco smoking campaigns are running out of puff, with a new report indicating a shift in public health campaign funding and attention to e-cigarettes.
A fresh study published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health interviewed 31 experts including tobacco control advocates and health practitioners, who said new messaging and funds were needed for stagnating campaigns.
“To achieve Australia’s goal of reducing smoking prevalence to less than 5 per cent by 2030 and ease tobacco’s considerable burden on the health system, we need to invest in what works,” said the University of Melbourne’s Senior Research Fellow Dr Michelle Jongenelis.
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“Despite evidence that hard-hitting mass media campaigns on tobacco harms are crucial in reducing smoking prevalence, Australia’s investment in such campaigns is below standard and has decreased significantly,” she said.
Dr Jongenelis said the experts she spoke with are calling for an updated evidence-based national strategy to help smokers quit.
She warned any reforms must be protected from lobby groups exploiting legal loopholes.
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“We are fighting a powerful tobacco industry that continues to interfere with smoking reduction efforts,” the researcher said.
“They claim to desire a smoke-free world, but this is simply an attempt to legitimise their activities while they continue to spend billions promoting tobacco cigarettes.”
“They are exploiting loopholes in our legislation and lobbying policy-makers to soften laws so they can continue to sell a product that kills millions worldwide every year,” Dr Jongenelis said.
With AAP. (Content has been tweaked for length and style.)
Jaw de Guzman is the content producer for Comms Room, a knowledge platform and website aimed at assisting the communications industry and its professionals.
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