Heat on anti-smoke campaigns

REDESIGNING quit-smoking programs to make them more effective for Aborigines is one of the top priorities for reversing high rates of cancer in indigenous communities.

Researchers say tobacco-control programs have been "inadequate and ineffective" and reducing tobacco use "is crucial for decreasing the burden of cancer (and other chronic diseases) in indigenous Australians".

Essential steps include improving health services targeting indigenous Australians, and ensuring that Aborigines are involved in these services.

Experts from the Menzies School of Health Research and the Institute of Advanced Studies at Charles Darwin University in the Northern Territory say Aborigines are "more likely to have cancers that have a poor prognosis, but which are largely preventable".

Read More