Moira Shire in top 10 for smoking prevalence

This figure ranks the shire seventh out of 79 LGAs in Victoria for prevalence of daily tobacco smokers.

Swan Hill, in the state’s north-west, has the highest prevalence of daily tobacco smokers, with over 16 out of 100 adults struggling to kick the habit.

In contrast, Booroondara, in Melbourne’s inner-east, showed the lowest prevalence of tobacco smokers at about five out of 100 residents.

Notably, Moira Shire also leads the way for prevalence of daily tobacco smokers across the Goulburn Valley.

Looking across the state, an average of over one in 10 Victorians smoke daily.

The report also shows that about five in 100 Moira Shire residents currently vape.

In contrast, Yarra City in Melbourne’s north-east tops the chart with 10 out of 100 residents who currently vape.

The report builds on data collected through a telephone survey conducted between January to March 2022.

The project was spearheaded by Cancer Council Victoria’s Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer with support from the Victorian Government.

Owner and practitioner Yarrawonga Medical Clinic and Mulwala Medical Centre and Skin Clinic Dr Ayon Guha said that the Moira Shire does have an issue with both smoking and vaping, with the latter the bigger issue.

“I would say with the number of smokers that has been recorded is correct though I am finding that the incidents of vaping is increasing locally,” Dr Ayon said.

“I would say that vaping is definitely increasing especially in the younger generation of 13 – 18 year olds who for some reason they have got into their heads now that vaping is ok.

“I have no idea how that came around because vaping is actually more dangerous than smoking.

“What we are doing as a group, whenever we see a smoker we are asking them ‘are you thinking of going from smoking to vaping?’

“If the answer is yes, we then educate them on vaping and I basically tell them to stick to smoking and try cutting it out rather than moving over to vaping as you are replacing one problem with another.

“But we do have an issue with smoking and vaping in the area especially in the younger tradie/labour population.

“If you are a worker, especially outside, you can get a few extra breaks to be able to go and have a smoke, that is considered desirable.

“At what cost to your health, I don’t think many people think if that.”

Since the 2022 survey, significant progress has been made in vaping legislation to restrict access to and promotion of harmful, addictive vaping products not used for therapeutic purposes.

From October this year, the Victorian Government announced that vapes can only be sold at a pharmacy from behind the counter following a consultation with a pharmacist.

When this research was conducted, vape shops were still popping up all over the state, despite it being illegal to sell nicotine vapes to someone without a prescription.

“People are not coming and seeking advice on vapes,” Dr Ayon said.

“When the government was looking at making it compulsory to see a doctor for a prescription to purchase a vape, there was a lot of patients seeking that and there was a lot of who-ha.

“The moment that they changed their mind on that, the patient numbers wanting to see us for this matter tapered off.”

When asked what he thinks could be done to reduce numbers of smoking and or vaping in the area, Dr Ayon believes that vaping as a medical prescription would be great.

“That will definitely cut out the people converting to vaping,” Dr Ayon said.

“What else can you do? The government essentially loves getting the revenue from smoking, so it has not been very high on the agenda to stop it.

“Yes, there are stickers on the packs and this and that, but is any education being done at school level? This 11 – 12 age group is when they are watching what others are doing.

“I don’t think it is in their interest to make it difficult to smoke.”

A copy of the Cancer Council’s report can found at tinyurl.com/nhjxtdme