Reducing tobacco consumption

Abstract

With the exception of Singapore, where few women smoke for cultural reasons, and Sweden, where the high use of oral sucking tobacco (or snus) in men has depressed cigarette smoking, Australia now has the lowest national smoking prevalence in the world. In Australia in 2001, 19.5 per cent of people over 14 years of age smoked on a daily basis. This is the first time that smoking prevalence in Australia has fallen below 20 per cent. This article describes the decline in smoking prevalence in Australia, discusses how this has been achieved, and outlines strategies for decreasing smoking prevalence in the future.