The Australian government on Monday started a new campaign encouraging people to quit smoking and vaping.

Mark Butler, the minister for health, announced a $41.7 million advertising campaign to raise awareness about the health harms of smoking and vaping.

The campaign marked the first time that the federal government has advertised to the public about the risks and harms of vaping and its first national anti-smoking advertising campaign in almost 10 years. It would run across television, radio and social media.

TikTok would be used in a federal government advertising campaign for the first time.

“Nicotine is highly addictive, and before you know it, what starts as an occasional thing becomes something much more serious.

“But it’s never too late to quit,’’ Mr Butler said in a statement.

According to the Cancer Council, tobacco smoking is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in Australia, accounting for 24,000 deaths every year.

The government’s National Drug Strategy Household Survey for 2022–2023, released in February, found that 21 per cent of Australians aged 18–24 and 9.7 per cent of those aged 14–17 used an e-cigarette in the previous 12 months, up from 5.3 and 1.8 per cent in 2019, respectively.

Mr Butler introduced legislation to parliament in March that would outlaw the domestic manufacturing, advertisement, supply and commercial possession of non-therapeutic and disposable single-use vapes in Australia.

In January, the government banned the import of disposable, single-use vapes.

(Xinhua/NAN)