Extending the Australian arm of the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Study

Funded Activity Summary

This project is to provide for the Australian arm of a large multi-national study to determine how tobacco control policies work. It is being conducted in the context of the implementation in 2005 of the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, to which Australia is a party. We will provide new knowledge on the impacts of specific policies which are being implemented in Australia, as well as ones that occur in other countries that are part of the larger study. These include the adoption of graphic health warnings on tobacco packaging, removal of misleading constituents levels information from packs, bans of misleading descriptors such as Light and Mild, and implementation of smoke-free bars. In addition it will advance our understanding of how policy effects persist over time, their equity, and the means by which they contribute to increased cessation and reduced relapse. We do this by following smokers every year in each of the countries and asking them about their thinking and actions with regard to smoking, as well as about their awareness of the policies. By comparing the responses of smokers exposed to policies with those from other countries that are not exposed, we can work out the contribution of the policies to changes in smoking. Understanding policy effects on smokers and smoking cessation will lead to improved policies in Australia and the likelihood of improved dissemination of policies that work here to other countries. Similarly policies found to work in other countries, can be best adapted to Australia if we understand how they work. Taken in total, it should advance our efforts to reduce the burden of smoking-related harm both in Australia and the rest of the world.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2007

End Date: 01-01-2011

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $881,295.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Public Health and Health Services

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

behavioural epidemiology | environmental tobacco smoke | health policy and services evaluation | health policy evaluation | longitudinal study | policy development | population health | tobacco | tobacco control | tobacco use

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