{"id":932721,"date":"2026-10-18T15:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T15:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/932721\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T15:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T15:28:09","slug":"public-health-policy-on-tobacco-control-must-be-guided-by-evidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/932721\/","title":{"rendered":"Public health policy on tobacco control must be guided by evidence,\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australia’s\u00a0smoking<\/a> rate has fallen from nearly one in five adults in 2001 to just 5.6% has occurred despite the growth in the illicit tobacco market.<\/p>\n

Around 1.3 million Australians now smoke daily, compared with three million in 2001. Australia is within reach of the National Tobacco Strategy goal of reducing daily smoking prevalence to\u00a05% or less by 2030<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This success did not happen by chance. It\u00a0reflects decades of evidence-based policy including tobacco taxation, plain packaging, smoke-free laws, advertising restrictions, graphic health warnings, mass media campaigns and cessation support. Together, these measures have changed behaviour,\u00a0reduced disease and saved lives<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As clinicians we have seen the benefits firsthand: Fewer Australians smoke and more people understand the risks tobacco poses to their health.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Smoking remains deadly, even as rates fall<\/p>\n

While smoking rates are at historic lows, tobacco use remains one of Australia\u2019s leading preventable causes of illness and premature death.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare names\u00a0it as the second-leading risk factor\u00a0for Australia\u2019s disease burden, accounting for\u00a07.6% of total disease burden and 11.6% of all deaths<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Recent Australian research<\/a> estimates smoking kills more than 24,000 Australians each year \u2014 about 66\u00a0people every day.\u00a0It roughly doubles the risk of death from heart disease and stroke and remains a major contributor to cancer, chronic respiratory disease and vascular disease.<\/p>\n

The public debate is increasingly focused on crime, not health<\/p>\n

In recent years, public debate about tobacco control has become dominated by concerns about illicit tobacco and organised crime. These are legitimate concerns that governments must address.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cheap, unregulated tobacco makes it easier to start smoking and harder to quit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In\u00a0our submission<\/a> to the Senate Inquiry for Illicit Tobacco Control, we urged the Australian\u00a0Government to take a national, best-practice approach that closes regulatory and enforcement gaps across the illegal tobacco supply chain. Existing tobacco taxes should remain, backed by sustained investment in public education and cessation support.<\/p>\n

While some argue that illicit tobacco could be eliminated by cutting excise duties and making legal tobacco cheaper. In my view, that would be deeply misguided. It would risk triggering a price war that only strengthens criminal operators.<\/p>\n

Public health policy should ultimately be judged by its ability to reduce smoking, prevent disease and save lives. When\u00a0debate centres on markets, taxation or law enforcement, the health goal\u00a0can become\u00a0obscured.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Big tobacco has changed its product, not its business model\u00a0<\/p>\n

As cigarette sales decline, the tobacco industry has expanded into e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches and other nicotine products.<\/p>\n

These products are often marketed as safer alternatives or harm-reduction tools. While the risks differ from combustible tobacco, emerging evidence regarding cardiovascular health, addiction and long-term\u00a0population impacts<\/a> is concerning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

History\u00a0shows the tobacco industry\u00a0adapts quickly to protect markets and\u00a0recruit new\u00a0customers. Public health professionals should remain cautious when commercial interests present themselves as partners in solving problems they\u00a0helped create.<\/p>\n

The greatest risk to public health is the re-normalisation of smoking and nicotine use<\/p>\n

One of Australia’s greatest public health successes has been changing social norms around smoking. Generations have grown up viewing smoking as abnormal, undesirable and harmful.\u00a0Sustained policy action and public education built that cultural shift.<\/p>\n

This is now at risk unless we act quickly to counter false narratives about safer tobacco products. No form of smoking is safe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While smoking among young Australians continues to decline, the use of alternative nicotine products remains comparatively common in younger age groups.\u00a0Daily vaping<\/a> among Australians aged 18 to 24 remains comparatively high at 8.3%, and nicotine pouch use is most common in this age group.<\/p>\n

If a new generation develops lifelong nicotine dependence through alternative products, the consequences may emerge over decades in preventable disease, healthcare costs and reduced quality of life.<\/p>\n

Support people who want to quit, and\u00a0prevent a new generation of nicotine\u00a0addiction\u00a0<\/p>\n

Smoking cessation remains one of the most effective clinical interventions available. Evidence consistently proves that quitting smoking reduces cardiovascular risk, lowers cancer risk and prolongs life expectancy. Even people who quit later in life experience substantial\u00a0health benefits<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Australians who want to quit should continue to have access to evidence-based behavioural support and approved pharmacotherapies. For some people, prescribed nicotine products, and prescribed vaping products, can have a role in quitting under clinical supervision. These pathways should remain accessible and affordable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Clinical guidelines\u00a0allow GPs to prescribe listed therapeutic vaping\u00a0products as\u00a0a\u00a0third-line choice when nicotine\u00a0replacement, oral\u00a0medicines and behavioural support have\u00a0not helped a patient quit. These\u00a0products\u00a0appear on the Therapeutic Goods\u00a0Administration\u2019s\u00a0notified vape list<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Strengthen and modernise tobacco control, don’t unwind it<\/p>\n

The answer to current challenges is not to unwind the policies that have delivered historic reductions in smoking. The answer is to strengthen and modernise them.<\/p>\n

Enforcement against illicit tobacco should be enhanced. Regulation must continue to adapt to emerging nicotine products. Public education campaigns must evolve with changing consumer behaviours and marketing tactics. Access to help people quit smoking for good must continue to expand.<\/p>\n

Australia is co-signatory to the\u00a0WHO Framework Convention<\/a> on Tobacco Control and is bound by Article 5.3 which requires governments to protect public health policies from the commercial and vested interests of the tobacco industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If we stay focused on those goals, Australia has a realistic opportunity to become one of the first countries in the world where smoking is no longer a common part of everyday life.<\/p>\n

That is a public health achievement worth finishing.<\/p>\n

Professor Garry Jennings AO has a distinguished career as a cardiologist in clinical practice and was previously Director of Cardiology at The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, and Chair of the Division of Medicine. He is the Heart Foundation\u2019s Chief Medical Advisor.<\/p>\n

The statements or opinions expressed in this article reflect the views of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official policy of the AMA, the\u00a0MJA\u00a0or\u00a0InSight+\u00a0unless so stated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Subscribe to the free\u00a0InSight+\u00a0weekly newsletter\u00a0here<\/a>. It is available to all readers, not just registered medical practitioners.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you would like to submit an article for consideration, send a Word version to\u00a0mjainsight-editor@ampco.com.au<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia’s\u00a0smoking rate has fallen from nearly one in five adults in 2001 to just 5.6% has occurred despite…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":932722,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[64,63,137],"class_list":["post-932721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/932721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=932721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/932721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/932722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=932721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=932721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=932721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}