Australian Public Health Initiatives to control Tobacco Smoking

Abstract

Introduction: Public health is a complete mental, physical, social and spiritual wellbeing of the human population. The term 'Public' denotes the meaning of both biotic and abiotic universe; 'Health' is the comprehensiveness of life; and "Public Health' means health related to the human population. Tobacco smoking is a universal public health problem and it is first reached Australian shores when it was introduced to northern-dwelling Indigenous communities.

Methods: Literature review (documents, web pages, Google, pamphlets, posters, books, journals, legal issues, etc)

Results: In Australia and many other countries, smoking behavior is inversely related to socioeconomic status, with disadvantaged groups in the population being more likely to take up and continue smoking. The Australian Government is committed to reducing the consumption of tobacco among all Australians. To achieve this, the Government has funded targeted public awareness campaigns, made changes to legislation, including banning smoking in enclosed public places, and provided grants for innovative approaches to help reduce tobacco consumption in communities with a high smoking prevalence. The South Australian Tobacco Control Strategy 2005-2010 has been developed to further guide the direction of tobacco control initiatives in this state.

Conclusion: Regular surveillance and monitoring of various cancer control initiatives and strategies require tracking of different prevention, screening and treatment modalities, risk factor reduction, and premature mortality. In Australia, cancer is a notifiable disease and all States and Territories have established registries to collect data on cancer incidence and mortality. The Australian Bureau of Statistics and other national agencies through a variety of surveys generate information on some of the major risk factors such as tobacco smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. The government ventures to reduce smoking is effective, even though it has becoming a threat for aetiology of different diseases due to use of tobacco, low immunity and lowering the age of the users.