A new anti-smoking campaign targeting Aboriginal people has been
launched today, after Menzies School of Health Research found
mainstream anti-smoking campaigns were not reaching the
indigenous population. The campaign, 'No Smokes', combines
games, videos and hip hop music on a website to bring the
message in a culturally relevant way. Dr Sheree Cairney from
Menzies School of Health Research said the website was built
with the inclusion of Aboriginal people. "Fifty per cent of
Aboriginal people smoke, and that's much higher than in the
general population - in fact one in five Aboriginal deaths are
due to smoking related causes," Dr Cairney said. "There are
communications differences and conceptual differences,
particularly when you think about Aboriginal people who speak
different languages and come from traditional societies where
their concepts of health are quite different." She said the
involvement of Aboriginal people, and Aboriginal faces leading
the campaign, made it more accessible and enabled the cam