The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Objective: To present mortality from tobacco and compare it with other preventable causes of death by geographic region in order to garner community, stakeholder and political support for a package of tobacco control legislation.

Secondly to provide current information on the impact of tobacco smoking to contribute to health planning in regional communities.

Methods: Data on preventable deaths by various geographic regions, including political and community catchments, was prepared by the Cancer Epidemiology Centre. This included comparisons with deaths from tobacco, alcohol, illicit drugs and road deaths within these regions, and a comparison with the overall average for the state of Victoria.

The data sets were made available on a website, www.quit.org.au/tobaccotragedy which presented the material as an interactive map. A CD was also prepared and both this and the website address were widely distributed to community organisations and politicians. The material was also disseminated to media through two launches, one in a city location and one in a regional centre.

Results: The media launches received widespread media publicity and interest, including in regional areas. The website received a large amount of traffic and community interest was high. The package of reforms was approved by the parliament with a number of mentions made about the impact of tobacco mortality within the parliamentarians' constituencies. Communities with the highest toll from tobacco have entered partnerships with Quit in order to focus on tobacco control in their regions.