Professor Mike Daube

Ireland told the Evidence is Plain: Government should Introduce New Tobacco Packaging Quicker

A leading public health figure from Australia has said that the Irish Government should act on the latest smoking data from there and introduce plain packaging of tobacco sooner than planned.

Professor Mike Daube of Curtin University in Perth, who chaired the Australian Government's expert committee that recommended plain packaging, told a meeting organised by the Irish Cancer Society that the latest figures from the Australian Government show that since the introduction of plain packaging there in December 2012 the number of people smoking has dropped to its historically low numbers.

"The National Drug Household Survey, which provides authoritative data, shows that daily smoking rates have fallen from 15.1% in 2010 to 12.8% in 2013," said Prof Daube. "This compares to the latest figures from HSE in Ireland that show that 21.5% of the population smoke.

"This result is the best I have seen in my 40-year career in public health. We are seeing a dramatic decline in smoking - and none of the dire consequences tobacco companies warned about. Their desperate efforts to undermine plain packaging have been completely discredited. It is a success story.

"The aim of almost every country is to have a future free from tobacco and Ireland has the goal of a 5% rate by 2025. Plain packaging of tobacco has been a key part of driving down smoking in Australia and there can be no doubt that it can have the same effect in Ireland," he said.

Kathleen O'Meara, Head of Advocacy & Communications at the Irish Cancer Society, expressed concern that while the Government has introduced legislation to introduce plain packaging of tobacco, the new packs won't be on the shelves until May 2016 at the earliest.

"All the evidence coming from Australia shows that plain packaging works despite what the tobacco industry says," said Ms O'Meara. "More smokers are seeking to quit. Smokers think more negatively about the habit. Now, most dramatically of all, the smoking rate has plummeted.

"Retailers won't be obliged to ensure all tobacco they sell is in plain packaging until May 2017 - a year after the introduction. The Irish Cancer Society wants the Government to amend the legislation to introduce plain packaging in 2015. The tobacco industry needs to recruit 50 new smokers every day in Ireland to replace those dying and quitting. There is no sufficient reason why our young people should wait for this."

Ms O'Meara warned that the tobacco industry would continue to publicise misleading data from Australia in a desperate attempt to block, amend and delay plain packaging in Ireland.

"2015 will mark ten years before the Irish Government's stated aim of a Tobacco Free Ireland," she said. "Bold steps are needed to achieve that goal. Introducing plain packaging can go some way to ensuring our children grow up never beginning to smoke."