Australia's smoking rates declining - Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing

The rates of sustained tobacco abstinence through 6 months were 4.3% with usual care, 5.1% with added free pharmacotherapy, and 8.8% with added financial incentives. Among medically underserved adults undergoing lung cancer screening, the use of financial incentives nearly doubles smoking cessation rates compared to other incentives, according to research published in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

Young men are struggling. Can Canada fix the problem? October 4|Duration 16:07Canadian men and boys are facing an escalating societal crisis as their rates of depression, anxiety and addiction rise. For The National, CBC's Omar Dabaghi-Pacheco investigates the roots of the struggle and whether a new federal mental health strategy goes far enough. On the surface, Nick Cholmsky looked like a thriving teenager. Growing up in Ottawa, he says he was athletic and heavily involved in basketball, had friends and a close relationship with his family. But underneath all that he says he was deeply depressed. The symptoms began in middle school and became much worse by Grade 11. At 16, he had begun entertaining suicidal thoughts. Nick Cholmsky, who grew up in Ottawa, experienced depression as a teen. He says online messaging encourages boys and men to stay silent about their psychological struggles. (CBC)Even as his depression and anxiety grew stronger, Cholmsky believed he couldn’t say anything, because "being a man" meant pushing negative thoughts down, and that any sign of weakness would cause him shame.

Among cancer patients, the high financial cost of cancer care is a prevalent problem. This financial burden is also associated with potentially harmful behavioral strategies that patients might use to cope with costs, such as delaying or forgoing treatment and skipping medications. Collectively, researchers refer to this impact as financial toxicity.