Around the world today, activities for World No Tobacco Day 2019 are putting the spotlight on “tobacco and lung health”, aiming to increase awareness of tobacco’s impact on people’s lung health and the fundamental role lungs play for the health and well-being of all people.
The campaign also serves as a call to action, advocating for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption and engaging stakeholders across multiple sectors in the fight for tobacco control.
In Australia, the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of NSW (AH&MRC) has sponsored an innovative Twitter Festival, to profile the work being done by Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services in tobacco control. Check #CommunityControl and #YourHealthYourFuture.
Below is the first in a series of rolling reports of the discussions, prepared by Croakey Professional Services and sponsored by the AH&MRC. The moderators are Amy McQuire, Dr Tim Senior and Hayley McQuire. Bookmark this link to follow the rolling posts.
The event trended nationally on Twitter by 9.30am.
Launch
Amy McQuire
@amymcquire
Tim Senior
@timsenior
Introductions
Aboriginal Health & Medical Research Council: Your health Your Future, the strengths of the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service sector
It’s vital that brief tobacco interventions are embedded into routine health care and checks. Our staff love to yarn with community to help them quit. You can read about the #ATRAC Yarning Tool here: https://buff.ly/2JLvWaF
We have developed the #ATRAC Yarning Tool which has been incorporated into smoking cessation programs across the country. The tool has assisted many health workers to initiate meaningful smoking cessation discussions with clients.
A #YourHealthYourFuture Aboriginal Health Assessment can be the beginning of a healthy lifestyle. We encourage you to think about having your next annual health check at your local AMS.
The assessment is free and a great opportunity to chat with your Aboriginal Health Worker about quitting smoking.
Keep your mob strong from the start. There is no safe level of smoking during pregnancy. Exposure to smoke in the womb can lead to chronic health conditions such as glue ear and asthma.
Later today we’ll be hearing from @GillianSGould about successes in the iSISTAgirl program and what this has meant for pregnant women, children, and their families in community.
Important to the topic of pregnancy is the subject of passive, or second & third hand smoking. When a client smokes at home, their family smokes too. Many clients don’t fully understand the effects of second and third hand smoke.
Smoking indoors puts children’s lives at risk. @ReadyMob and @WamindaSthCoast have had great successes in building community knowledge and awareness. We will hear more on this later in the day.
Did you know that smoking can worsen diabetes and obesity & potentially lead to tissue death & amputation? Our members offer holistic integrated care to their clients to address health issues that arise from smoking or are a cause of smoking behaviour.
Stay tuned to hear from our service members @WamindaSthCoast @ReadyMob RivMed and Redfern AMS about the deadly initiatives they are leading to tackle tobacco.
We all know that smoking causes cancer. Lung cancer is not the only risk you run if you smoke. Smoking can lead to increased risk for mouth, oesophageal, stomach, and bowel cancer. Smoking isn’t worth the risk to #YourHealthYourFuture.
We’ll be hearing from @cancerinstitute about the latest data around smoking related cancer deaths specific to Aboriginal people. They are doing great work in collaboration with our services and other government agencies to address this problem.
This artwork aims to increase awareness of the negative impact that tobacco has on peoples’ lung health and the fundamental role lungs play for the health and well-being of all people, as well as our natural environment.
Healthy, happy people make up healthy, happy, flourishing communities. This artwork is also a call to action for people and communities to get proactive about World No Tobacco Day and helping more people to quit smoking.
Thank you to all our partners involved in the Twitter Festival today. We can’t wait to read everyone’s stories and learn from your valuable experiences working in collaboration with your communities.
National Perspective
National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation: Tobacco Control from the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service sector nationally
Trending nationally
This is the first in a series of posts from the Twitter Festival. Bookmark this link to follow the rolling posts.
The Twitter festival is hosted by Croakey Professional Services on behalf of the AH&MRC. We thank the AH&MRC for organising the program.
