Release Date: Monday 7 April,
2003
ADDRESSING SMOKING IN
INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES
The impact of smoking in Indigenous communities
will be the focus of a round-table meeting in
Melbourne tomorrow. Representatives from around
Australia and overseas will attend the meeting,
which is part of the 2nd Australian Tobacco Control
Conference which begins in Melbourne on Wednesday.
The round-table will cover the latest statistics
on tobacco-related sickness and death in Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander communities around
Australia. With a delegation of Maori representatives
attending, the latest international developments
in Indigenous tobacco control will also be discussed.
Round-table convenor Viki Briggs says the meeting
is a unique opportunity to address smoking in
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
at a national level.
“Without exception, in every single state
and territory in Australia, smoking rates in Aboriginal
communities are a very serious problem.”
“At around 50%, smoking rates in Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander communities are more
than double the smoking rates in the general population.”
“This meeting gives the Indigenous community
a chance to come together and develop a shared
approach to this issue.”
“Addressing Indigenous smoking is a challenge
that we all need to work together on, and this
workshop provides a rare opportunity to bring
a large number of key groups together.”
Ms Briggs says one of the aims of the round-table
is to develop a set of research priorities and
identify the resources needed to tackle this problem.
“There’s a lot of good work being
done at the local community level, and now we
need a plan to broaden this approach to the macro
level and make an impact on this serious problem.”
Resolutions will be developed from the workshop,
and presented as part of the resolutions of the
2nd Australian Tobacco Control Conference on Friday.
The impact of smoking on Indigenous communities
will also be the focus of one of the conference’s
keynote speeches. Associate Professor Ian Anderson
will present a keynote address entitled Past,
Present and Future: Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Tobacco Control on Wednesday 9 April.
For more information
please contact Zoe Furman on 0408 176 934
or email zoe.furman@cancervic.org.au
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