Australian doctors body calls for ban on vaping, tobacco company's political donations

SYDNEY - Australia's peak body representing general practices on Thursday called on the government's new legislation to prohibit vaping and tobacco industry donations to political parties or individual politicians to help prevent younger generations getting hooked on nicotine, reported Xinhua.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) made the recommendation in a submission to the Department of Health and Aged Care on the exposure draft of a package of legislation that aims to reduce tobacco prevalence.

The RACGP recommended the new legislation would ensure services and resources supporting smoking cessation are more accessible for harder-to-reach groups, add heated tobacco products to those defined in the legislation, and ensure these are covered by the proposed plain packaging and product requirement legislation.

The RACGP also hoped the legislation could clarify the responsibilities of government departments and agencies, so regulations are enforced.

Tobacco smoking is one of the largest preventable causes of death and disease in Australia, which is estimated to kill almost 20,500 Australians a year, 13 per cent of all deaths, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics(ABS).

The ABS data released last December showed one in ten adults were current daily smokers in 2021-22 (10.1 per cent). Adults who live in outer regional and remote Australia were more likely to be current daily smokers than those who live in major cities. - Bernama