Choking! Budget Slashes Anti-Smoking Campaign Funds

With one of Australia’s highest smoking rates, cuts to smoking reduction measures will hit Tasmania disproportionately hard.

This was the message from health groups, Quit Tasmania and the Cancer Council Tasmania, to Tasmania’s Government after a “catastrophic” 50% cut in Government funding for smoking reduction measures. 

The State Budget, handed down last week, contained the bad news.

“Alongside the abandonment of youth-focused anti-vaping campaigns this has delivered a devastating blow to Tasmanians,” Quit Director Abby Smith said.

In Tasmania 13% of adults smoke, similar to NT and QLD, and higher than other jurisdictions. 

“Smoking is still a leading cause of preventable death and disease. About 60,000 Tasmanians smoke and 2 in 3 people who smoke die from a tobacco-related disease, yet 80% of them want to quit.

“Smoking causes 16 different types of cancer and many other diseases. The habit is also financially disastrous: smoking a pack of 20 cigarettes a day adds up to nearly $15,000 per year.

Smith told Tasmanian Times why this funding cut comes at the wrong time. 

“In Tasmania we’ve done a great job driving down demand for tobacco products by preventing uptake and encouraging people to quit smoking. This has been achieved through our comprehensive approach to tobacco control including proven public health measures like sustained investment in anti-tobacco campaigns, increasing smoke-free areas, making tobacco products more expensive, on-pack graphic health warning and quit smoking support like Quitline Tasmania.

“While we need to continue investing and implementing measures that work, we should also be considering how and where tobacco is sold. The evidence shows that the more accessible and available tobacco products are, the more people take up smoking, continue smoking and relapse.”

“We also aren’t out of the youth vaping crisis just yet and know that young people who vape are five times more likely to start smoking,” added Smith. 

Cancer Council Tasmania CEO Alison Lai said the cuts do not make sense .

“The Government has announced an increase in their investment into the health system, spending a reported $10 million every day, treating chronic diseases, such as cancer,” Lai said.

“These are diseases that are largely preventable, and cutting programs designed to prevent them and keep people out of hospital seems illogical.”

“Smoking costs Tasmanians about $1 billion per year in costs like healthcare, loss of workforce and years of life lost due to deaths from smoking-related illness.

“Anti-tobacco campaigns are one of the most cost-effective Government ‘best buys’ for the prevention of chronic diseases, delivering returns that far exceed their modest investment.”

“We’ve been able to achieve this through strong investment from the Tasmanian Government since 2018.

Smith said a 50% funding reduction would compromise all this work, forcing us below evidence-based levels.

Smith and Lai said the cuts also cast a troubling shadow over the government’s forthcoming 20-Year Preventive Health Strategy and Tasmanian Cancer Plan.

“How can we trust in the commitment to long-term preventive health when proven, evidence-based programs face arbitrary budget reductions despite their demonstrated success?” Smith said.

Quit Tasmania and Cancer Council Tasmania have called on the Tasmanian Government to honour its preventive health commitments through sustained, multi-year funding that preserves all essential ingredients of proven public education campaigns.

Tasmanian Times (TT) is a community-based news and current affairs service covering the island state of Tasmania. It exists to provide a diverse view of Tasmanian issues. TT creates and supports independent media content utilising the best of modern technologies and tried-and-true practices of public-interest journalism.

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