The Commonwealth Government has been ranked
first among Australian governments for making the most progress on combating smoking
during 2009/10.
Ahead of World No Tobacco Day on 31 May,
AMA Federal President, Dr Andrew Pesce, today announced results of the
AMA/Australian Council on Smoking and Health (ACOSH) National Tobacco
Scoreboard.
The scoreboard allocates points to each
State and Territory in various categories, including legislation, to track how
effective governments have been at combating smoking in the previous 12 months.
For the first time, this year the Commonwealth Government was considered as
part of the same ranking process as State and Territory governments.
Presenting the award to Prime Minister
Kevin Rudd at the AMA's annual conference in Sydney, Dr Pesce said: "The
Australian Government is to be congratulated on its comprehensive and
determined approach, which will make Australia the world leader in tobacco
control.
"Recent measures by the Government have
included a 25 per cent increase in excise duty on tobacco products, legislation
mandating plain packaging for tobacco products, banning tobacco marketing on
the internet and increasing funding for media campaigns on smoking.
"The Australian Government has also
recognised the importance of tackling Indigenous smoking by committing more
than $100 million to the Tackling Indigenous Smoking campaign over the next
four years."
Dr Pesce said that he hoped the results of
the National Tobacco Control Scoreboard would encourage governments to do more
to combat tobacco use.
The
recipient of the AMA's
Dirty Ashtray Award for the Australian State or
Territory that made the least progress on combating smoking during 2009/10 will
be announced at the AMA National Conference tonight.
Source: AMA
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