Calls to the New South Wales Quitline increased by 78% in the month after the introduction of plain packaging for cigarettes in 2012, though it is still not known if fewer individuals are smoking simply 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 powerful as smoke-cost-free regions, assistance applications and mass media campaigns
Calls to NSW Quitline elevated from 363 a week to a peak of 651 a week in the time period studied. In 2006 there was an 84% increase in calls following the introduction of graphic warnings.
The examine stated the spike in calls could not be explained by an increase in anti-tobacco advertising or the cost of cigarettes.
“This is an critical incremental phase in extensive tobacco control,” the study concluded.
The investigation was published in the Medical Journal of Australia.
Currow said: “The impact of plain packaging appears to be significant, quick and sustained.
“Nations that introduce plain packaging can come to feel a lot more assured that the policy has the meant effects.”
Research have yet to be finished into how several people have offered up smoking considering that the introduction of plain packaging, and for how lengthy.
The lead writer of the report, Professor Jane Young, said that even though the enhance in calls was less marked than in 2006, it was more immediate and lasted longer.
In November a report discovered plain packaging had led to an boost in unlawful tobacco, however total smoking costs had been down.
The research, funded by a tobacco company, discovered the sale of legal tobacco declined and the sum of tobacco consumed in Australia was declining, but there was an improve in the use of illicit tobacco.
The very first examine published after the introduction of plain packaging found it created cigarettes less appealing to smokers.
Quitline calls up by 78% the month soon after plain packaging of cigarettes
