Smoking is not our culture

Indigenous school students from western Sydney are at the forefront of efforts to discourage Aboriginal youth from smoking.

They have combined anti-smoking messages with traditional art to produce a visually striking mural featuring a number of positive health messages.

The mural, entitled ‘Smoking Is Not Our Culture’, was unveiled recently at Mount Druitt Hospital.

Students from Chifley College produced the work as part of the school’s ‘Walking Into Good Health’ program.

Director of the Primary Healthcare Education and Research Unit, Associate Professor Smita Shah said the students and the school’s Aboriginal education officers want to encourage people to butt-out.

“The message we want to promote is good health in good hands,” Ms Shah said.

“It has been a journey where students and the school’s Aboriginal education officers have worked to empower individuals to become smoke free.

“This program is the work of our students who are doing this to promote the important message about the dangers of smoking throughout the school community and beyond.”

The mural, which includes the message ‘Don’t Let Your Future Go Up in Smoke’, will be reproduced in posters and postcards, which will be distributed to medical centres, health centres and pharmacies across western and south western Sydney.

The Chifley College students have worked on the project in collaboration with the Western Sydney Local Health District’s Primary Health and Education and Research Unit and the Triple A (Adolescent Asthma Action) program.

For further information call 8890 6505 or visit: http://sydney.edu.au/medicine/public-health/salsa-triple-a/triple-a/index.php