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SYDNEY - An Australian anti-smoking group launched a new television campaign on Thursday that is so explicit it has been banned from screening in peak evening viewing times.
Due to the depiction of a surgical procedure, the campaign by Quit, which coincides with the World Health Organisation's "World No Tobacco Day", was given an M (mature) rating, stopping it from being screened at prime time early evening.
It can only be seen during M rated shows.
The surgical procedure featured in the campaign is a carotid endarterectomy, which is undertaken to reduce the risk of stroke. The operation clears out blockages from the artery in the neck that might break off and lodge in the brain.
Acting director of Quit, Suzie Stillman, was unapologetic about the uncompromising scene shown in the campaign, describing it as reality television at its most powerful.
Stillman said people who smoke are about twice as likely to have a stroke than non-smokers, yet fewer than one in 10 smokers were able to identify smoking as a cause of stroke.
"There is a desperate need to convey to smokers the potentially devastating health consequences of tobacco use, and we shouldn't sanitize this message," Stillman said.
"This campaign might not be easy to watch but the health effects of smoking are rarely pretty," she said in a statement.
The World Health Organisation this week called for a global ban on smoking at work and in enclosed public places, saying this was the leading cause of preventable deaths worldwide.
Some 200,000 people die each year due to exposure to tobacco smoke at work, while about 700 million children, half the world's total, breathe air polluted by tobacco smoke, the WHO said.
The Australian campaign starts screening in the southern state of Victoria. The country's most populous state, New South Wales (NSW), will ban smoking in all hotels and clubs from July.
A NSW Cancer Council survey found an overwhelming majority of Australians support smoking bans being extended to playgrounds, areas outside workplace entrances and sports stadiums, Some 69 per cent want smoke-free outdoor dining areas.
South Australia state on Thursday banned smoking in cars with children under the age of 16 as passengers.
- REUTERS
