“LET’S talk about smoking, vaping and e-cigarettes.”
That’s the message from the Gippsland Region Public Health Unit as it launched its ‘Breathe Easy Gippsland’ campaign earlier this month.
“We want to understand what the people of Gippsland think about expanding smoke and vape-free zones across our communities. We also want to know more about people’s own experiences, particularly when it comes to vaping,” Population Health Lead with the Gippsland Region Public Health Unit, Nilay Kocaali said.
“The Gippsland Region Public Health Unit and Wellington Shire Council are working together to address this issue, with a focus on young people.
“In Australia, there has been an increase in young people (aged 14-17) using vapes and smoking. Cigarette use by 14-17 year olds has increased for the first time in 25 years, with young people who vape being three times more likely to try smoking than young people who do not vape, according to The Medical Journal of Australia.
“Gippsland has some of the highest smoking rates of all Victorian regions. This includes smoking among pregnant people which in some parts of Gippsland is three times higher than the state’s average.
“We’ve known for over 50 years now that smoking, along with exposure to second hand smoke is detrimental to people’s health. It (smoking) is the leading preventable cause of cancer and contributes to heart and lung disease, yet rates remain higher than we’d like across Gippsland,” Ms Kocaali said.
“Added to that, vaping, or the use of e-cigarettes has emerged and is posing significant threats to public health. Vaping prevalence, particularly among young people is a huge concern and thanks to recent publications from the Australian National University, we know that young people who vape are three times more likely to turn to tobacco smoking. Even those who have never smoked before.
“Concerningly, for the first time in decades we are seeing a rise in smoking rates among people as young as 14-years-old.
“E-cigarettes sold in Australia are often not labelled correctly, with many e-cigarette liquid containing ingredients which are not stated on the labels, such as nicotine in “nicotine-free” liquids.”
Ms Kocaali said that e-cigarettes were “definitely” marketed towards young people, with the packaging featuring bright colours.
“(Young people) are sourcing (vapes) online, and they’re marketed online through TikTok and Snapchat,” she said.
“Prior to these last couple of years, we were seeing good tracking on our smoking rates going down … with vaping on the scene we have regressed.”
Breathe Easy Gippsland is based on a similar campaign conducted by the City of Melbourne which since 2013, has seen the introduction of 13 smoke and vape free areas across the city’s CBD.
Gippsland’s Breathe Easy campaign hopes to see similar outcomes, but first is focussed on engaging local communities through community pop-ups, a social media campaign and an online survey to gauge the community’s opinions and interest in increased action to reduce tobacco and e-cigarette-related harm. Businesses will be asked to support the campaign by displaying posters and sports clubs will be sent updated signage.
“It’s part awareness raising and part research with the goal being more smoke and vape free areas introduced across Gippsland,” Ms Kocaali said.
“Many venues have ‘no smoking’ signs, but few have signs that include reference to vaping. These updated signs highlight the issue of vaping and remind people that e-cigarettes are also harmful to people’s health.”
The research component will show what level of support there is from the community for the expansion of smoke and vape free zones.
Ms Kocaali said if the support was high, it is hoped that this will assist local governments to expand smoke and vape-free areas in their community.
“Smoke and vape-free zones are the only way to fully protect communities from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke. Additionally, they ‘de-normalise’ smoking and vaping, helping to reduce smoking and vaping uptake in children and young people and reinforce supportive environments which are conducive to people wanting to quit smoking and non-smokers,” she said.
“If this flows through from the research and the awareness-raising campaign, we’ll have a healthier Gippsland where we can all breathe a little easier.
“More local data needs to be sourced on e-cigarettes. So this campaign will give us an insight into our local community in Gippsland.”
Have your say by completing the online survey at surveymonkey.com/r/breatheeasysurvey
More information about Breathe Easy Gippsland can be found at lrh.com.au and on the Breathe Easy Gippsland Facebook page.
Adult smoking rates (comparative Victoria average 16.4 per cent):
-Latrobe: 22 per cent
-Wellington: 21.4 per cent
-East Gippsland: 14.7 per cent
In Gippsland, over one in six women smoke during pregnancy (see stats below), which is much higher than the Victorian average of 8 per cent:
-Latrobe: 24.5 per cent
-East Gippsland: 18.3 per cent
-Wellington: 16.5 per cent
