Aborigine smoking rates targeted

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Very high rates of smoking among Australia's Aborigines are the target of a new campaign by health officials.

An estimated 50% of indigenous people smoke in Australia, which is way above the national average.

Researchers have blamed poverty and a lack of awareness of the dangers of smoking in remote areas.

Efforts to help Australians give up smoking, such as bans in pubs and tough advertising campaigns, have done little to encourage Aborigines to quit.

While rates of smoking in the non-indigenous population are gradually falling, they remain stubbornly high in indigenous communities.

Poor life expectancy

The New South Wales state government is joining forces with cancer charities and the University of Sydney to launch a new anti-smoking project.

Researcher Hannah Nancarrow says that one of the contributing factors to high rates of smoking is that, in the past, indigenous workers were paid in tobacco.

"In Aboriginal communities it's up to 50% compared to the non-indigenous population where it's below 20% now," she said.

"They say because of... dispossession from land, when tobacco was first introduced, it was seen as a way of paying off Aboriginal people. So they got paid in milk, tea, sugar and tobacco."

Lung and heart disease are two of the biggest killers in the Aboriginal community, and smoking is widely seen as a major factor.

In some parts of the country, indigenous people are 13 times more likely to develop cardiovascular ailments than other Australians.

A further dent to Aboriginal health has been inflicted by the widespread abuse of alcohol and drugs.

It has had a catastrophic effect on life expectancy.

Aboriginal people die on average 17 years younger than their non-indigenous counterparts.