World No Tobacco Day on Friday, May 31

The online resource published by the Australian Health Policy Collaboration found 18 per cent of adults in the Bathurst local government area are smokers, slightly above the national average of 16 per cent.

That's about 5216 people who are still regularly lighting up Western NSW Local Health District marks World No Tobacco Day on Friday.

But Bathurst is faring better than neighbouring LGAs, with smoking rates in Wellington (27.1 per cent), Mid Western (24.4), Cowra (24.4), Blayney (21.0), Lithgow (24.1), Oberon (21.3), Dubbo (19.3) and Orange (18.2) all above the state average.

As part of its WNTD campaign, the local health district wants to highlight the message that the single most important step you can take to improve your health is to live a smoke-free lifestyle.

Health promotion officer Siobahn Graham said that while the rate of smoking continued to fall in Australia, tobacco smoking remained the leading cause of disease and premature death and was a leading risk factor for many chronic diseases.

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"The 2019 WNTD theme highlights the impact of tobacco smoking on the health of our lungs, for example worsening of asthma symptoms, an increased risk of chronic respiratory disease and lung cancer," Ms Graham said.

"Inhaling tobacco smoke not only affects the lung health of smokers, but also the lungs of people breathing in second hand smoke. Children are particularly susceptible to the effects of second-hand smoke as their lungs are still developing.

"This really highlights the importance of making sure we all live, work and play in smoke free environments."

Ms Graham said many people in the community would relate to the message behind World No Tobacco Day, whether they were a smoker or not.

"You only get one set of lungs so why risk damaging them by breathing in tobacco smoke?" she said.