In 2003 the Illawarra Tobacco Control Coalition, of which Healthy Cities Illawarra is an active member, was successful in acquiring a grant through the Environmental Tobacco Smoke and Children program run by the NSW Cancer Council. Healthy Cities Illawarra administered the grant and was actively involved in the project.

The Illawarra Environmental Tobacco Smoke and Children (ETS and Kids) project focussed on two communities for which smoking has been shown to be a concern - the Aboriginal community and the Arabic-speaking community.

The project involved several components, including the use of Carbon Monoxide breath analysers by health workers and GPs; art workshops and competitions to develop culturally-specific resources (including library bags, placemats, calendars and stickers) for both Aboriginal and Arabic-speaking communities; and seminars for Arabic-speaking groups highlighting the dnagers of children being exposed to cmoke in enclosed areas. Pre- and post- project surveys were completed.

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