High smoking rates among Aboriginal community and Torres Strait Islanders cause financial hardship

Melissa Sweet Sydney

Cultural factors promote smoking among Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, and a new report highlights neglect of the problem by governments and the public health sector.

The report, by the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, says current figures on smoking among Aborigines were not available but that 1994 studies put the rate at 54%. In some communities 79% of men and 70% of women smoked.

Tobacco, Time for Action can be obtained from the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation's website: www.naccho.org.au/



studentBMJ 2002;10:215-258 July ISSN 0966-6494