RATE OF SMOKING DURING PREGNANCY STILL NATION’S HIGHEST

Govt Won’t Commit Funds or Timeframe for Badly Needed Tobacco Action Plan
Paul ‘Basil’ O’Halloran MP
Greens Health spokesperson

The Tasmanian Greens today called on Labor to back up its anti-smoking rhetoric with action and, crucially, funds, to reduce the high number of Tasmanian women who smoke when pregnant, saying that recent research provides yet more evidence that doing so damages children while in the womb and for years after they are born.

Greens Health spokesperson Paul ‘Basil’ O’Halloran MP called on the Minister for Health, Michelle O’Byrne MP, to confirm whether the vital funding for the promised Tobacco Action Plan (TAP) was included in the Budget, in light of this new research, which increases the need for anti-smoking action.

“We know smoking when pregnant seriously harms the unborn baby. It can, for example, weaken the child’s cardiovascular system, increasing the risk of heart disease by 10% to 15%, among numerous other negative impacts on the child’s health for years to come,” Mr O’Halloran said.
“Now recent research has found that the children of mothers who smoke, even when they reach eight years of age, still show the effects of being exposed to their mother’s smoke, having less ‘good cholesterol’ than children whose mothers didn’t smoke.”

“Tasmania still has the highest rate of women who smoke when pregnant: 26%, compared to the national average of 16%. That our rate is 10% higher than the rest of the country is an indictment on our ability to tackle the issue of smoking during pregnancy.”

“This is a damning indictment on our ability to tackle smoking during pregnancy, yet the Health Minister was unable to confirm that TAP funding was included in the Budget, nor could she give a timeframe for when TAP would be implemented.”

“The Greens will continue pursue this issue, despite Liberal members for Braddon calling it “crazy”, and we will keep pushing Labor to commit to funding and implementing the Tobacco Action Plan, to try and reduce the distressingly high number of Tasmanian women who smoke when pregnant.”

“Equally, we will continue to pressure the Tasmanian Liberal Party to refuse donations from the tobacco industry, which they currently still accept,” said Mr O’Halloran.
Paul ‘Basil’ O’Halloran MP, Greens Health spokesperson