Two of Australia’s heavy hitters in cancer prevention have been awarded the Cancer Council Medal for their work in driving health policy which has had far-reaching impact on cancer incidence and mortality.

Emeritus Professor Michael Daube, from Curtin University, who pioneered Australia’s tobacco plain-packaging laws, and public health physician Dr Heather Mitchell, who oversaw the landmark review on cervical cancer that led to Australia’s national screening service, have been jointly awarded the medal for distinguished lifetime service.

Professor Sanchia Aranda, CEO of Cancer Council Australia, says their “extraordinary” efforts have undoubtedly saved millions of lives.

For more than 40 years, Professor Daube has been battling tobacco industry giants and, alongside Dr Nigel Gray, wrote the world’s first blueprint for comprehensive tobacco regulation that was later used to draft the world’s first treaty on global tobacco control — one of the mostly widely embraced in the UN’s history.