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Don’t give up on giving up
Darwin woman Sekur Clayton is blogging her experiences to the world through the No Smokes website
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Quit now!
Calls from Indigenous people to smoking ‘Quit’ lines have increased dramatically from last year – up by 45 per cent – due to the introduction of plain packaging, a tobacco expert panel told a national conference in Canberra last month. Around 220 delegates from across Australia met in Canberra in December over four days to […]
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Social messaging
An innovative new program called ‘no smokes’ is using social media and the internet to assist young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to give up and stay off the smokes. The No Smokes anti-smoking website uses animations, games, videos, music and downloadable educational tools to explain addiction, talk about the effects of smoking and […]
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Butt out and feel good
We all know the potentially disastrous toll smoking can take on the body. We see it every night on TV, in newspapers, on billboards – the graphic pictures of someone coughing up blood, the whistling airways as a young person is diagnosed with lung cancer, the blackened lips, teeth and tongue from mouth cancer…. The […]
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Going your own way
Two prominent Indigenous men who never smoked say they are glad they never started, considering other family members around them did smoke as they were growing up. They both offer their advice about staying off the smokes to achieve better health. Both former Rugby Sevens’ footballer, Matt Sonter, and founder of Black on Track, Brian […]
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I quit because
Pastor Ray Minniecon* is well-known around Redfern and greater Sydney. As such he was a perfect choice to be one of the faces of the I Quit Because campaign, an anti-smoking campaign that is making inroads into smoking by Indigenous people. The campaign website has a series of videos of people talking about their experiences […]
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Breathe easy
The Tackling Indigenous Smoking Initiative measures success through the engagement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in their program. And people have begun to listen to the information, campaigns and messages that are making their way into homes and communities under the Initiative. There’s good reason to listen given smoking is responsible for one […]
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More Help For Battle Against Smoking
Tom Calma says more resources than ever before are now going towards the battle to reduce the high rates of smoking in Aboriginal communities. Healthy lifestyle teams are being employed in 21 regions around Australia to deliver anti-smoking programs, while around 60 communities across Australia will have health-promotion workers by mid-2012 to help deliver anti-smoking […]
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5 reasons not to smoke
Live longer and get more out of life! Not smoking helps you live longer by dramatically reducing your chances of heart attack, stroke and a bunch of other terminal illnesses – and it also helps you live better. You may not think about it when you’re young and feeling fit and healthy, but the longer […]
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Residents told to Butt out
p> Indigenous Health Minister Warren Snowdon announced the new partnership which will see 70 accommodation facilities managed by Aboriginal Hostels (AHL) move to stamp out smoking. The move comes as part of a Federal Government plan to close the life expectancy gap. Mr Snowdon says the AHL will help spread anti-smoking messages nationwide to around […]
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Closing the gap in life expectancy
The life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians can be mainly attributed to chronic diseases, a new report has found. But while some inroads have been made into the health and well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the report says there is still a long way to go. The health and welfare […]
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Anti-smoking campaign kicks off
In a national first, a new hard hitting advertising campaign urging Indigenous Australians to break the chain and quit smoking hit the airwaves, newspapers and TV screens today as the Gillard Government continues its world leading action to combat tobacco use. This campaign depicts a young Indigenous woman reflecting on her own experience of having […]
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Smoking – It’s killing us
Tobacco may be part of our past, but a new program aims to ensure the negative health and cultural (and financial) impacts don’t carry on into the future. “One study found that the average extended family in these remote communities spends the equivalent of one 4-wheel drive a year on cigarettes or $50,000” – Tom […]
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Can smoking give you cervical cancer?
Lungs aren’t the only part of the body that can develop cancer from smoking. We all know that smoking can cause lung cancer, but you may not know that it can also increase your risk of developing cervical cancer by up to 60 per cent. Recent statistics show that 49 per cent of Indigenous women […]
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Nicotine
Nicotine is a highly addictive, poisonous chemical substance found in tobacco leaves. Most nicotine is derived from a plant called Nicotiana tabacum, but there are many other species of plants that contain nicotine. It’s believed that Aborigines may have been among the first people to use tobacco. When you inhale tobacco smoke, it takes about […]
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