Opposition to banning cigarette filters and the belief that removing filters makes cigarettes much more harmful among adults who smoke: Findings from the 2022 International Tobacco Control Four Country Smoking and Vaping Survey.

Introduction: In line with historical tobacco industry marketing claims, many consumers perceive cigarettes with filters as less harmful than cigarette without filters. However, scientific evidence indicates that cigarette filters do not reduce the risks associated with smoking. We examined opposition to banning the sale of cigarettes with filters, beliefs about whether removing filters makes cigarettes much more harmful, and whether this belief is associated with opposition to banning filters among adults who smoke cigarettes from four high-income countries.

Interventions to Reduce Lung Cancer and COPD-Related Stigma: A Systematic Review.

Background: Many individuals with lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) experience high levels of stigma, which is associated with psychological distress and delayed help-seeking.

Purpose: To identify interventions aimed at reducing the stigma of lung cancer or COPD and to synthesize evidence on their efficacy.

Methods: A systematic review was conducted by searching PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, and CINAHL for relevant records until March 1, 2024.

Systematic review and meta-analyses of cytisine to support tobacco cessation.

Background And Aims: Cytisine (also known as cytisinicline) is a low-cost partial agonist of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors used to assist tobacco cessation. We aimed to review the effectiveness of cytisine for tobacco cessation and the effects of dose and co-use of behavioural or other pharmacological interventions on cessation outcomes.

Methods: We searched seven databases, Google Scholar, and reference lists of included publications for randomised controlled trials investigating use of cytisine as a tobacco cessation aid.

Public Support for Tobacco Endgame Policies: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Introductions: An increasing number of countries are adopting the tobacco endgame goal. High levels of public support can accelerate momentum towards implementing tobacco endgame policies. We aimed to conduct a systematic review of public support for tobacco endgame policies and to examine the geographical distribution of studies, support among key populations (adolescents and young adults, people who smoke), and the association between survey design and support.

Do Australians use the prescription pathway when using nicotine vaping products to quit smoking?

Background: In Australia, nicotine vaping products (NVPs) are only legally available to those with a prescription from a doctor. We investigated the proportion of people using NVPs to quit smoking who had a prescription, and whether this increased following regulatory changes in 2021 that strengthened the prescription requirement.

Methods: Australian data from the 2018, 2020 and 2022 International Tobacco Control (ITC) Project Survey were analysed using GEE models with Poisson regressions to analyze differences between years.

Tobacco control interventions for populations living in subsidised, low-income housing: a scoping review.

Objectives: People living in subsidised low-income housing are more likely to smoke and experience secondhand smoke exposure compared to the general population. While tobacco control interventions have yielded substantial population health benefits, people living in subsidised housing experience a greater burden of tobacco-related harms. We synthesised existing peer-reviewed and grey literature to determine tobacco control interventions that have been implemented in subsidised housing globally, and to understand their impact on smoking and secondhand smoke exposure.

E-cigarettes: A framework for comparative history and policy.

Background: England, Australia and the United States have approached the regulation of e-cigarettes in very different ways, yet all three countries have appealed to the concept of evidence as underpinning policy responses. We compared these policy responses using a combination of the methodologies of historians and policy scientists in order to elucidate the factors that had influenced policy in each country.

Argument/analysis: Each country's evidence and values intersected in different ways, producing very different responses within specific national contexts and histories.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of text messaging interventions to support tobacco cessation.

Objective: To review randomised controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the effectiveness of text message-based interventions for smoking cessation, including the effects of dose (number of text messages) and concomitant use of behavioural or pharmacological interventions.

Data Sources: We searched seven databases (PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus, EMBASE, Cochrane Library and Web of Science), Google Scholar and the reference lists of relevant publications for RCTs. Eligible studies included participants aged ≥15 years who smoked tobacco at enrolment.

Evaluating the implementation of a prescription only regulatory model for nicotine vaping products: A qualitative study on the experiences and views of healthcare professionals.

Background: Deciding how to regulate nicotine vaping products (NVPs) is a challenge for many countries. Balanced regulation should consider the potential harms to young people from uptake of NVPs alongside the possible benefits of NVPs as a smoking cessation aid. One option is to make NVPs only available via medical prescription to adults who smoke.

Commercial tobacco endgame themes in the Australian media from 2000 to 2021.

Background: Conventional tobacco control is dominated by demand-reduction measures, whereas commercial tobacco endgame (endgame) policies address the key drivers that maintain the tobacco epidemic, such as Tobacco Industry interference in policymaking, the addictiveness of commercial tobacco products and their widespread availability via retail outlets. While Australia has been a pioneer in tobacco control, Australian Governments are yet to commit to endgame policies. The media play an important role reflecting and influencing public opinion and policymaker positions, and can help set the agenda for policy innovation.

Support for nicotine reduction in cigarettes: findings from the 2016 and 2020 ITC Four Country Smoking and Vaping Surveys.

Introduction: The USA and New Zealand have sought to establish a product standard to set a maximum nicotine level for cigarettes to reduce their addictiveness. This study examined support for very low nicotine cigarettes (VLNCs) in Australia, Canada, England and the USA between 2016 and 2020.

Methods: Repeated cross-sectional data were analysed from participants who currently smoke, formerly smoked or vaped and/or currently vape in the 2016 (n=11 150) and/or 2020 (n=5432) International Tobacco Control (ITC) Four Country Smoking and Vaping Survey.

How has the brain disease model of addiction contributed to tobacco control?

Our paper evaluates the extent to which the brain disease model of addiction (BDMA) has contributed to reducing the prevalence of tobacco smoking and  tobacco-related harm over the past 20 years. We discuss the ways in which genetic and neuroscience research on nicotine addiction have contributed to our understanding of tobacco smoking. We then examine the extent to which the BDMA has produced more effective treatments to assist smoking cessation.

Spokespeople in public health: Important characteristics from the perspective of Australian public health professionals.

Background: Spokespeople play a significant role in communicating public health information yet there is little research understanding the characteristics of those who provide such messaging.

Methods: One hundred and four health professionals (70% female) recruited through professional association mailing lists in Australia completed a brief online quantitative and qualitative survey.

Results: Participants reported characteristics they believed to be important for spokespeople, those that they believed their organisation considered important, and those they thought engendered public trust.

Characterising trusted spokespeople in noncommunicable disease prevention: A systematic scoping review.

Noncommunicable diseases (NCD) are an increasing global threat. Utilising public policy to address NCDs can reduce incidence and prevalence. However, NCD-relevant public policy action is minimal in many countries as changing public policy is difficult and multifactorial.

Closing the gaps in tobacco endgame evidence: a scoping review.

Objective: Tobacco endgame policies aim to rapidly and permanently reduce smoking to minimal levels. We reviewed evidence syntheses for: (1) endgame policies, (2) evidence gaps, and (3) future research priorities.

Data Sources: Guided by JBI scoping review methodology, we searched five databases (PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Embase and Web of Science) for evidence syntheses published in English since 1990 on 12 policies, and Google for publications from key national and international organisations.

A Pragmatic Randomized Comparative Trial of e-Cigarettes and Other Nicotine Products for Quitting or Long-Term Substitution in Smokers.

Introduction: Tobacco harm reduction has potential to improve individual and population health. However, little research exists on low-intensity interventions, such as encouraging longer-term NRT or e-cigarette use. We aimed to determine whether: (1) encouraging use of nicotine products as long-term tobacco substitutes is more effective for smoking abstinence than standard treatment, and (2) offering e-cigarettes is more effective than NRT.

The Acceptability and Effectiveness of Videos Promoting Smoking Cessation Among Australians Experiencing Mental Illness.

There are high rates of tobacco smoking among people who experience mental illness (MI). While videos are an effective method of disseminating health-related information, there is limited research investigating the effectiveness of video-delivered education promoting smoking cessation among people living with MI. This formative study aimed to investigate the effectiveness and acceptability of targeted video resources providing smoking cessation information and advice to smokers with MI.

Does the content and source credibility of health and risk messages related to nicotine vaping products have an impact on harm perception and behavioural intentions? A systematic review.

Aims: To systematically review the literature on (i) whether and how various risk messages about nicotine vaping products (NVPs) alter harm perception and behavioural intentions of smokers and non-smokers and (ii) how trust in sources of NVP risk communication affects message reception and behavioural intentions.

Methods: Seven electronic databases and reference lists of relevant articles were searched for articles published up to April 2020. Experimental and quasi-experimental studies on message effects and cross-sectional studies on source credibility were included.

'It's all the other stuff!' How smokers understand (and misunderstand) chemicals in cigarettes and cigarette smoke.

Many people understand chemicals as entities that do not occur naturally, and which are also invariably toxic. Tobacco control messages liberally use the term 'chemicals' to evoke these meanings and create concern among smokers. This may reinforce misunderstandings, potentially leading to smokers making harmful choices.

A first pass, using pre-history and contemporary history, at understanding why Australia and England have such different policies towards electronic nicotine delivery systems, 1970s-c. 2018.

Aims: The United Kingdom and Australia have developed highly divergent policy responses to electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). To understand the historical origins of these differences, we describe the history of tobacco control in each country and the key roles played in setting ENDS policy in its early stages by public health regulations and policy networks, anti-smoking organizations, 'vaper' activist networks and advocates of harm reduction policies towards injecting drug use.

Methods: We analysed key government reports, policy statements from public health bodies and non-government organizations (e.