Quitline calls up by 78% the month after plain packaging of cigarettes

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/14/quitline-calls-up-plain-packaging-cigarettes

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Calls to the New South Wales Quitline increased by 78% in the month after the introduction of plain packaging for cigarettes in 2012, although it is still not known if fewer people are smoking because of it.

The chief executive of the Cancer Institute NSW, David Currow, said the figures, from a study by the University of Sydney and the Cancer Institute NSW, showed plain packaging could be as effective as smoke-free areas, support programs and mass media campaigns

Calls to NSW Quitline increased from 363 a week to a peak of 651 a week in the period studied. In 2006 there was an 84% increase in calls after the introduction of graphic warnings.

The study said the spike in calls could not be explained by an increase in anti-tobacco advertising or the price of cigarettes.

“This is an important incremental step in comprehensive tobacco control,” the study concluded.

The research was published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Currow said: "The impact of plain packaging appears to be significant, immediate and sustained.

"Countries that introduce plain packaging can feel more confident that the policy has the intended effects."

Studies have yet to be completed into how many people have given up smoking since the introduction of plain packaging, and for how long.

The lead author of the report, Professor Jane Young, said that while the increase in calls was less marked than in 2006, it was more immediate and lasted longer.

In November a report found plain packaging had led to an increase in illegal tobacco, though overall smoking rates were down.

The research, funded by a tobacco company, found the sale of legal tobacco declined and the amount of tobacco consumed in Australia was declining, but there was an increase in the use of illicit tobacco.

The first study published after the introduction of plain packaging found it made cigarettes less appealing to smokers.

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