Read articles from Australia

March 13, 2023 by theguardian.com

The Queensland parliament will hold an inquiry into the health risks, use and prevalence of e-cigarettes, amid concerns that some vaping products marketed as “nicotine free” actually contain the addictive chemical.

Queensland laws allow the sale of nicotine-free vaping devices in tobacco shops. E-cigarettes containing nicotine are only available with a prescription.

But the state health minister, Yvette D’Ath, said on Sunday that “we know” that some products being sold off the shelf in Queensland do contain nicotine and other chemicals like nail polish remover.

March 13, 2023 by medicalrepublic.com.au

Smoking is still Australia’s leading preventable cause of death and illness. GPs in Australia see over 80% of the population every year, and are well placed to help smokers quit.

But as GPs know, conventional smoking cessation aids are not very effective and quit rates are low.

Also, GPs are very busy and few are comfortable trying to be a quit smoking coach. In addition, few smokers seek help as they think smoking is a lifestyle issue rather than a disease to be treated by a doctor. So, the GP contribution to reducing smoking in Australia has been modest. 

March 08, 2023 by nzherald.co.nz

It’s easy to buy vapes or e-cigarettes online. When we looked at websites selling them to buyers in Australia and New Zealand, we found a variety of slick, false or misleading marketing claims.

In our new research, we outlined how these included health claims – how vapes contain “zero” carcinogens, are an effective aid for quitting smoking, and lead to improved breathing “in a matter of days”.

Vapes were also marketed as sexy, sleek and environmentally friendly.

March 06, 2023 by odt.co.nz

Doctors, public health experts and schools are among those calling for New Zealand authorities to make vapes prescription only, like in Australia.
However, some warn that hardline approach has simply created a black market. [....] Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP) president Bryan Betty would like vapes to be strictly a smoking cessation tool - restricted to pharmacies or available through Quitline, like nicotine patches.

"That way it would be associated with appropriate education, and appropriate discussions as evidence becomes available of potential long-term harm of vaping."

March 06, 2023 by mja.com.au

Australia’s efforts to reduce smoking rates have been world leading.

Ongoing increases in tobacco excise, smoke-free laws, mass media campaigns, the prohibition of tobacco advertising, and tobacco product plain packaging are all key strategies that form part of Australia’s comprehensive and evidence-based approach to tobacco control.

Unfortunately, renewed attention to tobacco control is urgently needed.

The prevalence of smoking is unacceptably high, especially in priority populations, and tobacco use remains Australia’s leading risk factor for morbidity and premature mortality.

February 16, 2023 by theconversation.com

Vaping, or using electronic cigarettes, not only pollutes the surrounding air, it also creates a new contaminated e-waste stream.

Australian waste management authorities are just beginning to tackle this problem, as schools’ stockpiles of confiscated vapes continue to grow. As researchers of issues to do with the so-called circular economy, we take a keen interest in how products can be safely and successfully reused and recycled, rather than being thrown away.

February 13, 2023 by newcastleherald.com.au

Almost nine in 10 Australian adults believe the government should take action to prevent young people from becoming addicted to e-cigarettes, a report says.

The finding out of the Cancer Council Victoria's Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer comes in light of the state's Quitline fielding calls from addicted children as young as 12 looking for help to quit vaping. More than eight in 10 Australians agreed in 2022 that e-cigarettes were highly addictive, up from 70 per cent in 2021, a report by the centre found.

February 06, 2023 by hippocraticpost.com

One in five adolescent respondent users reported illegally sourcing their nicotine e-liquids from tobacco retailers.

Published in BMC Public Health, the study surveyed more than 600 e-cigarette users, and asked about the type of e-liquid they used and where they source the product.

Four in five users reported using nicotine e-liquid at least monthly. Worryingly, 78% of adolescent e-cigarette users aged 12 to 17 years reported using nicotine e-liquid, and a quarter of adolescents and young adult users did not know the nicotine strength of the e-liquid they used.

February 06, 2023 by spectator.com.au

The Australian public health industry is overpopulated with intellectual egotists – activists, academics, and bureaucrats who insist they know best for all of us, and brook no disagreement with their prescriptions for dealing with the vices and ills that beset our society.

As far as they are concerned, it’s their way or the highway. Ministers and MPs hang on their every word, or risk being condemned if they deviate from the prescription. Public health policies are made in close consultation with them. Many are treated as unimpeachable oracles of wisdom: Aristotle’s philosopher kings.

February 01, 2023 by abc.net.au

An alarming number of children under four years old were accidentally poisoned by vaping products last year, as a health expert warns they are being mistaken for dummies. The NSW Poisons Information Centre received 213 calls regarding this age group's exposure to e-cigarettes and liquids in 2022, compared with 127 the previous year.

Genevieve Adamo, the centre's senior specialist in poisons information, said toddlers were stumbling upon the products and putting them in their mouths, "as children do".

"They say, 'oh the kid has picked it up and put it in their mouth like a dummy'," she said.