Don’t Undermine Advances To End Tobacco Harm, Public Health Experts Urge

‘Rolling back legislation to prevent harm from smoking
is a mistake’, says NZCPHM President Sir Collin
Tukuitonga.

‘Smoking is the single biggest
commercial risk factor for preventable disease and premature
death in Aotearoa New Zealand and is responsible for almost
10% of all health loss. There are large inequities in
smoking prevalence by ethnicity and socio-economic status,
and related inequities in health outcomes, with smoking
causing almost a quarter of all deaths among Māori, as well
as impacting negatively on their economic, social and
cultural wellbeing.’

There has been good progress by
successive Governments to reduce the prevalence of smoking
and the extent of the harm that it causes, since the New
Zealand Government in 2011 committed to a Smokefree goal by
2025. This has culminated in the comprehensive Smokefree
Aotearoa 2025 Action Plan – Auahi Kore Aotearoa Mahere
Rautaki 2025 (Action Plan) for achieving a Smokefree
Aotearoa, published in December 2021, and the Smokefree
Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Act 1990
(SERPA Act), which received Royal Assent in December 2022.
Some aspects of the Action Plan and the Act represent
landmarks in smokefree and public health actions, and place
Aotearoa New Zealand at the vanguard of international action
to end the global smoking epidemic.

‘We strongly
urge the new Government not to undo these gains. Cigarettes
remain highly addictive and continue to be sold in almost
every dairy, supermarket, and petrol station as if they were
a normal consumer product’, says Sir Collin. ‘We can and
must act together to prevent further harm. New Zealand
should not rely on taxation income from harmful products to
fund other
policies.’

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