Technical Paper 2:
Tobacco Control in Australia: making smoking history
3.6.2 Investing in tobacco control as a component of social development
- Overview and summary of action proposed
- Summary of proposed measures
- 1 - Introduction: the big picture
2 - Progress in meeting National Tobacco Strategy objectives: trends and concerns
3 - Progress in Australia on recommended policies and programs- 3.1 - Regulate
- 3.2 - Public education: Increase promotion of Quit and smoke-free messages
- 3.3 - Improve services and treatment for smokers
- 3.4 - Better support families and educators
- 3.5 - Tailor messages and services for highly disadvantaged groups
- 3.6 - Address causes of disadvantage
- 3.7 - Improve focus in research, monitoring and evaluation
- 4 - What next, what first and for what cost?
- Major sources used in this document
- References
- Addendum for October 2008 to June 2009
The WHO recognises the importance of reducing tobacco in the achievement of the United Nations Millennium Declaration 2000,[455] in which member nations pledged to work together to eliminate extreme poverty, improve health, and promote human development and sustainable economic progress in the world’s poorest nations. It identified tobacco as a major avoidable cause of illness and preventable death in low-income countries, and urged that tobacco control be adopted as a means of improving the economic prospects of the world’s poorest billion people.[456] Even in the poorest countries on earth, increasing tobacco taxes can help to decrease average spending on tobacco products, and reduce malnutrition and improve health among children in the poorest households.[457] Other tobacco control policies are also highly cost-effective in achieving development goals. The National Tobacco Strategy specifies that tobacco control should be a component of both welfare and overseas aid.[7]
Progress in Australia
With high smoking rates in many Pacific Island countries in Australia’s immediate vicinity,[458] the inclusion of countries in the Oceania region in the biannual Australian–New Zealand tobacco conferences is a small but useful contribution to promoting tobacco control in international development.Australian public health researchers and government officials are providing extensive technical assistance in the development of protocols for the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.[6]
Ideas for consideration
Australia could use its expertise in both the legislative and policy spheres in tobacco control to encourage recipients of overseas aid to adopt strong tobacco control measures as a component of economic and social development. Such a focus would help to amplify australia’s contribution to the achievement of millennium goals to an extent well in excess of what is achievable through its relatively small monetary contribution alone.