Targetted in anti-smoking campaign

Aboriginal people on the Peninsula are being targeted as part of a Federal Government anti-smoking campaign.

The member for Robertson Ms Deborah O'Neill has joined

Mingaletta Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation and Member for Robertson Ms Deborah O'Neill have joined forces to promote the campaign on the Peninsula.

The campaign depicts a young Indigenous woman reflecting on her own experience of having lost family and friends to smoking-related diseases and how she doesn't want her own children to think dying early from smoking-related diseases is normal.

Mingaletta Chairperson Dianne O'Brien said it was a great ad.

"Almost 50 per cent of Aboriginal people are smoking," said Ms O'Brien.

"This heightens the risk of heart disease and stroke, as well as complications for those with diabetes.

"Smoking also causes lung cancer and the data shows we are high in this area.

"Not only does it affect those who smoke, but also all of the family too and that's what this ad shows," said Ms O'Brien.

Break the Chain is the first indigenous-specific television commercial as part of a national health campaign.

"The Break the Chain advertising campaign is a national first, and it's particularly important for our indigenous population here on the Peninsula," said Ms O'Neill.

"Smoking alone accounts for around 20 per cent of all indigenous deaths.

"That's something we simply must redress."

The advertising campaign hit the airwaves, newspapers and TV screens nationally in the last week of March.

Media Release, 1 Apr 2011 Matt Pulford, Office of Deborah O'Neill