I am writing regarding your interpretation and use of figures by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare into the number of daily smokers in Australia in your recent post.
This survey shows a 2.3 percentage point drop in smoking incidence between 2010 and 2013 in Australia. However, your post attributed, spuriously, this drop to the introduction of standardised or plain packaging of tobacco products in Australia.
Standardised packing of tobacco products was introduced in Australia in December 2012, yet this survey covers the period from 2010. Therefore, it is entirely incorrect to suggest that standardised packaging has been the reason for this drop. What’s more there is no increase in the rate of decline in 2013 and therefore no effect from plain packaging.
The data shows that the smoking rate has been falling by 0.4-0.9 percentage points every year for twenty years and has continued to do so since plain packaging came in. The same survey shows an identical drop (2.3 percentage point drop) between 1998 and 2001 (with a further 2.1 percentage point drop between 2001 and 2004. There has not been a huge or significant drop in smoking rates since the plain packaging policy was enacted in Australia.
Competing interests:
I represent the UK tobacco industry.
Rapid Response:
I am writing regarding your interpretation and use of figures by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare into the number of daily smokers in Australia in your recent post.
This survey shows a 2.3 percentage point drop in smoking incidence between 2010 and 2013 in Australia. However, your post attributed, spuriously, this drop to the introduction of standardised or plain packaging of tobacco products in Australia.
Standardised packing of tobacco products was introduced in Australia in December 2012, yet this survey covers the period from 2010. Therefore, it is entirely incorrect to suggest that standardised packaging has been the reason for this drop. What’s more there is no increase in the rate of decline in 2013 and therefore no effect from plain packaging.
The data shows that the smoking rate has been falling by 0.4-0.9 percentage points every year for twenty years and has continued to do so since plain packaging came in. The same survey shows an identical drop (2.3 percentage point drop) between 1998 and 2001 (with a further 2.1 percentage point drop between 2001 and 2004. There has not been a huge or significant drop in smoking rates since the plain packaging policy was enacted in Australia.
Competing interests: I represent the UK tobacco industry.