The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smoking epidemic: what stage are we at, and what does it mean?

Ray Lovett; Katherine Thurber; Raglan Maddox

doi:10.1071/phrp2741733

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smoking epidemic: what stage are we at, and what does it mean?

Ray Lovett ^A ^* , Katherine Thurber ^A and Raglan Maddox ^B ^C

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Research School of Population Health, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT

^B Well Living House, Centre for Urban Health Solutions, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Canada

^C aculty of Health, University of Canberra, ACT, Australia

^* Correspondence to: raymond.lovett@anu.edu.au

Public Health Research and Practice 27, e2741733 https://doi.org/10.17061/phrp2741733

Published: 11 October 2017

2017 © Lovett et al. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence, which allows others to redistribute, adapt and share this work non-commercially provided they attribute the work and any adapted version of it is distributed under the same Creative Commons licence terms.

Abstract

Smoking is the leading contributor to the burden of disease among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, and there is considerable potential for change. Understanding the epidemic stage may provide insight into probable trends in smoking-attributable mortality, and inform program and policy development. Tobacco use among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians has declined substantially, accompanied by declining tobacco-related cardiovascular mortality. Based on the available evidence, we expect tobacco-related cancer mortality to remain high, but peak within the next decade; however, there is a critical need for improved evidence to make an accurate assessment. The continuation and expansion of comprehensive tobacco reduction measures is expected to further decrease tobacco use. Health gains will be observed over both the short and long term.