CANBERRA, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Smoking-related deaths among Australia's Indigenous population are expected to continue to increase over the next 20 years despite a recent dip in smoking rates, researchers from the Australian National University (ANU) said on Wednesday.
According to Dr Ray Lovett from the ANU Research School of Population Health, despite a recent reduction in the smoking rate among Aboriginal Australians, the death rate was not expected to hit its peak for around another 20 years.
In a statement released Wednesday, Lovett said that his team identified a "lag" between smoking cigarettes and the onset of smoking-related diseases such as lung cancer, explaining to the delay.
"We have seen significant declines in smoking among Indigenous Australian adults over the past two decades that will bring major health benefits over time," Lovett said.
"We're seeing tobacco's lethal legacy from when smoking prevalence was at its peak, (but) on the positive side, we've seen a 43 percent reduction in cardiovascular disease deaths, mainly from heart attacks, over the past 20 years among Indigenous people, in large part due to people quitting smoking."
Lovett added that while smoking rates have dropped among Indigenous Australians over the last 20 years - from half of all Indigenous adults to two in five - the rate was still "two and a half times higher" than the general Australian population.
"We need a continued comprehensive approach to tobacco control, and the incorporation of Indigenous leadership, long-term investment and the provision of culturally appropriate materials and activities is critical to further reducing smoking," Lovett said in a statement.
