Aboriginals smoke less cigarettes per day than others: Study

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDJul 14 2010

Dr Ananya Mandal, MD

A new study showed that Aboriginal smokers residing in remote communities have a significantly lower consumption of cigarettes than the rest of the population. The study was published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health on Wednesday.

The study analyzed the cigarette sales from 2007 in five remote communities in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands in South Australia. Co-author, Associate Professor David Thomas from Darwin's Menzies School of Health Research, says that on one hand there was a higher rate of smoking among Indigenous Australians than the wider population but on the other hand they smoked lesser number of cigarettes per day than the average smoker elsewhere. Results showed that smokers in these areas consumed between six and eight cigarettes a day, while smokers in the wider Australian community smoked an average of 14 cigarettes a day - a figure which rises to 17 for the lowest-income group. However there were 50% adult aboriginal smokers compared to 16.6 per cent of adults nationwide.

He pointed out that policy makers should keep this in mind. He said, “Whilst there will be some heavy smokers in these communities and other Aboriginal communities who do need the support of nicotine replacement therapy, those smoking at lower levels are less likely to benefit from that….So other tobacco control activities are more likely to make an impact.” Inadequate access to shops could be a reason he said. “Stores in these communities are only open about six hours a day… And so if you run out of cigarettes there's no service station to go to get some more cigarettes…The other thing is the importance of sharing in these communities,” he said.

On the future policy plans of the government he said, “The (federal) government has put a great deal of money in reducing Aboriginal smoking, but what this means is that it's important they don't focus on nicotine addiction-type services….They have committed $100 million to Aboriginal tobacco control as part of the close the gap campaign. Now we need the research evidence to guide what that money is spent on…This research is one small bit in the picture.”