No butts about it

Elizabeth Moorhead

The Illawarra Tobacco Control Conference on Friday, May 30 will bring together health workers concerned about the uptake of smoking by young people.

Medical practitioners, council employees and those professionals employed in health care fields are being encouraged to attend the conference which will address both local and state anti-tobacco initiatives and new cessation treatments.

The conference, being held at the Shellharbour Links Golf Club, coincides with the World Health Organisation’s WHO World No Tobacco Day on May 31.

The emphasis of the WHO campaign is on the susceptibility of the youth market to tobacco marketing. The WHO website accuses the tobacco industry of intensifying efforts to attract the youth market, and in turn attract life-long smokers.

The aim of this year’s conference is on creating a smoke-free youth, while at the same time reducing the exposure young people have to tobacco smoke, Dr Andy Mark from Kiama Hospital and Member of the Heart Foundation said.

Measures to prevent the uptake of smoking among young people and practical initiatives to reduce smoking and smoke exposure overall will be presented at the conference by representatives of various organisations including Kiama and Shoalhaven councils and The Cancer Council.

“We hope that those who attend the conference will be encouraged to return to their workplace and community and implement some of the initiatives discussed,” Dr Mark said. “For example, Shellharbour Council has begun working towards implementing smoke-free outdoor areas. We hope people will implement what they have learnt in practical ways.”

Topics being discussed are broad, including a multilingual Quitline, smoke-free local councils, protecting children from tobacco and the influence of smoking in movies.

Although the goal is to achieve a smoke-free youth, the conference will include information relevant to stemming tobacco use across all age groups.