World No Tobacco Day 2006

AMA President, Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, said today that Australian governments should take the opportunity on World No Tobacco Day (31 May 2006) to plan their next stages of legislation and public education to prevent smoking in public places and stop smoking altogether.

Dr Haikerwal said that the AMA/ACOSH Dirty Ashtray Awards last weekend showed that the State and Territory governments are all moving towards tougher anti-smoking laws but they are inconsistent in their impact and some are moving much slower than others.

"We need some national consistency in anti-smoking legislation, especially in regard to bans in pubs and clubs and restaurants and other public places, but we need everyone, including the Commonwealth Government, to move faster to stub out smoking," Dr Haikerwal said.

"Every day we delay in making it harder for people to smoke in public, and every day we allow people - especially the young - to take up smoking, more Australians will die or fall victim to chronic disease.

"Death and poor health from smoking are preventable - we can and must do more."

The theme of World No Tobacco Day is "Tobacco: deadly in any form or disguise".

Dr Haikerwal said the theme is a direct attack on the tactics of tobacco companies to misuse and misrepresent terms such as 'light' or mild' in marketing cigarettes.

"Cigarettes are killers no matter what fancy and deceptive names the advertisers use to describe them or the flavours they use to mask the taste of tobacco," Dr Haikerwal said.

"A slow and painful death from smoking-related illnesses is neither 'light' nor 'mild' for the victim or their families.

"The penalties for tobacco companies using these tactics should be heavy and extreme," Dr Haikerwal said.

The AMA strongly supports the current campaign by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) raising awareness that Low Yield cigarettes are not necessarily less harmful to a smoker's health than High Yield (regular) cigarettes.

The ACCC will be re-broadcasting the campaign advertisements between 28 and 31 May 2006 to coincide with World No Tobacco Day.

Dr Haikerwal said the AMA is advocating that retailers should move tobacco products out of sight of customers.

A powerful alliance of tobacco sellers has become the tobacco industry's key partner in promoting tobacco as a 'normal' product and has been lobbying governments to reject plans to move tobacco displays out of sight in shops.

Dr Haikerwal urged governments to reject the claims from this group that tobacco is a normal legal product that should be able to be displayed as with any other legal product.

"Cigarettes cause illness and death. They are not normal products," Dr Haikerwal said.

The AMA is also calling on the Commonwealth Government to make the so-called cigarette 'shock packs' - featuring graphic images of the health effects of smoking - larger and more graphic and more shocking.

"We still only have around 20 per cent of tobacco products carrying the new warnings, and the tobacco companies are engaged in elaborate tricks like cigarette tins with peel-off warning stickers to obscure or hide the health messages.

"Stronger warnings are needed and stronger legislation is needed to stamp out the tobacco companies' dirty tricks and make Australia smoke-free."

The AMA Position Statement on Tobacco Smoking includes the following actions and recommendations:

Political parties should not accept sponsorship from tobacco companies

• The AMA supports generic packaging
• The Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act should be amended to prevent the promotion of tobacco products and smoking in films and other media
• Product placement in television programs and movies should be restricted to audiences over 18 years of age
• Non-smokers should qualify for reduced life, sickness and disability insurance premiums
• Smoking by teachers, staff, pupils and visitors should be banned in or near all schools
• Medical practitioners and other health professionals should not smoke in public when they are identifiable in their occupational role
• All forms of public promotion and marketing of tobacco products should be banned, including at the point of sale
• Governments and the police have a responsibility to enforce the law regarding the sale of tobacco products to minors
• The AMA supports the use of Controlled Purchase Operations (CPOs), undercover operations which expose retailers who sell cigarettes to kids
• Smoking should be banned in all public areas, including pubs and clubs, workplaces, restaurants and public transport
• State and Territory Governments must standardise their excise tax on cigarettes to the highest taxing State
• There should be more targeted research into methods for quitting smoking.