WA's annual death toll from smoking equals lives lost in Titanic disaster

22/4/98

Western Australia's annual death toll from smoking now stands at 1,500 which compares to the number of lives lost by the sinking of the Titanic almost 90 years ago, Health Minister Kevin Prince said today.

Launching the 1998 Quit Campaign in Perth, Mr Prince said the tragic maritime event of 1912 still captivated world attention yet tragedy of a similar scale occurred through smoking every year in this State.

"Currently, there are more than 336,000 smokers in Western Australia and almost half of those people will die prematurely, by middle age, because they smoke," the Minister said.

"That is a tragedy which can be avoided, so we are urging Western Australian smokers to butt out right now so that they can live a longer, healthier life."

The 1998 National Quit campaign targets 18 to 40-year-old smokers and focuses on the direct link between smoking and stroke which affects 100 Australians every day.

"Smoking is a leading cause of stroke and quitting is the single most important thing you can do to reduce your risk of stroke," Mr Prince said.

"Each year 37,000 Australians will suffer a stroke and one third will die within three months.

"Medical evidence suggests up to 25 per cent of all strokes are directly attributable to smoking which independently increases the risk of stroke threefold.

"We want more Australians, in particular Western Australians to quit today because if they do, their risk of a stroke will return to the level of a lifelong non-smoker within five to 15 years."

Former smokers who suffered a stroke attended today's WA Quit launch at Osborne Park hospital and spoke of their condition.

According to Health Department of WA statistics, smoking caused more than 35,000 hospital admissions in WA between 1993 and 1995. The annual cost of smoking to the State exceeds $36 million or an average of $21 per head of population.

"That sort of cost is exorbitant and preventable and I therefore hope that this year's graphic advertisements, which dramatically demonstrate the harm caused by smoking, will motivate smokers to quit or cut down on smoking," he said.

"We know that 82 per cent of smokers out there want to quit and over the past 20 years, many Western Australians have and we now have the lowest prevalence of adult smokers in the country at about 24.4 per cent.

"But we want to reduce those figures further and campaigns such as this are undoubtedly having the desired effect of encouraging smokers to quit once and for all."

This year's campaign will include:

·      the distribution of information through GPs, hospitals, community and school nurses and pharmacists;

·      culturally-appropriate information to assist Aboriginal people to quit;

·      special support for long-time smokers; and -

·      quit information and counselling support through the quit line and the alcohol and drug information service counselling line.

Media contact: Kirsten Stoney 9221 1377