Smoking rates plateau bucking downward trend, latest survey figures show
The latest data indicates the daily smoking rate has plateaued at 6.9 percent, only a very slight change from the previous year's 6.8 percent.
Photo:
RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
Healthcare professionals are worried that for the first time in a decade, daily smoking rates have plateaued rather than fallen.
The stagnation follows last year's
repeal of groundbreaking smokefree legislation
, prompting urgent calls for re-evaluation and renewed action.
The latest New Zealand Health Survey (2023/24) data indicates the daily smoking rate has plateaued at 6.9 percent, a negligible change from the previous year's 6.8 percent.
Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) chief executive Vincent So said it marked a "sharp deviation" from the consistent downward trend observed since 2011 when rates were at 16.4 percent.
"This data is a stark warning that New Zealand's progress in reducing smoking is faltering," So said.
"When effective strategies are abandoned, we risk losing the momentum gained through years of hard work and investment.
"It's imperative that we re-examine the current policy settings and ensure that the health and well-being of all New Zealanders remain a top priority."
Royal Australasian College of Physicians Dr Hamish McCay said only a few years ago New Zealand's approach was world-leading.
"Now, government policy is setting new generations up for smoking addiction and life-threatening health issues," he said.
"The repeal of the previous government's tobacco laws went against all the evidence and all the health advice.
"We are losing the profound health benefits these laws offered for people of all ages and future generations, particularly for our Māori communities."
Asthma and Respiratory Foundation chief executive Letitia Harding said the government's strategy seems to now be "to just add vapes to the mix".
Photo:
Unsplash
The Smokefree 2025 goal aimed to reduce daily smoking prevalence to less than 5 percent across all population groups by the end of 2025.
It was part of a broader initiative to reduce the impact of tobacco on public health.
Dr Stuart Jones, a respiratory medicine specialist, told
Morning Report
the repealed legislation included world-leading measures such as de-nicotinisation of tobacco, a drastic reduction in tobacco retailers, and a "smokefree generation" policy.
Jones said vaping was a double-edged sword because while some smokers had moved to vaping, others who never smoked had taken up vaping and quickly become addicted to nicotine.
TSANZ's New Zealand president Dr Paul Dawkins said the repealed legislation was designed to deliver rapid and equitable reductions in smoking.
"To see the overall smoking rate reduction showing evidence of beginning to stall so soon after these crucial public health protections were dismantled is deeply troubling," Dawkins said.
"The Smokefree 2025 goal, which is now only months away, is now in serious jeopardy."
Asthma and Respiratory Foundation chief executive Letitia Harding said the government was derailing years of public health progress.
"We were on track to lead the world in tobacco control, now we appear to be leading the world in vaping.
"Our previous Smokefree laws were bold, evidence-based, and targeted at protecting future generations, but the repeal of those measures blindsided everyone."
She said the new approach simply shifted the problem to vapes.
"The government's strategy seems to be 'let's just add vapes to the mix', which is just another product that has harmful health effects and ensures future generations are nicotine dependent," Harding said.
"We're not breaking the cycle of nicotine dependency - we're just redirecting it," she said.
"Let's free Aotearoa from the shackles of big tobacco, who make money on the back of nicotine dependency."
The goal should not just be a smokefree New Zealand - it should be vape-free too, Harding said.
"Otherwise, we're just chasing a new kind of addiction - and calling it progress."
Casey Costello said the survey period was not impacted by any activity by the coalition government, as the provisions that were repealed had not come into effect.
Photo:
RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Last year Associate Health Minister Casey Costello
slashed excise tax by 50 percent on heated tobacco products
(HTPs) to encourage smokers to switch to the product as an alternative to smoking.
The government set aside $216 million contingency to cover the estimated lost revenue.
Costello said the government was committed to the Smokefree 2025 target and had "continued and accelerated the initiatives, programmes and services that has contributed to our quit-smoking successes".
"We are undoubtedly seeing smoking rates decline as an overall trend and we have one of the lowest smoking rates across the world.
"We also remain focused on doing all we can to prevent youth vaping - more restrictions are coming into force on 17 June. This follows a period where New Zealand was initially slow to regulate against vaping before we came into government."
Costello said the survey period was not impacted by any activity by the coalition government, as the provisions repealed had not come into effect.
"The positive news is that smoking rates for young people are well below the 5 percent target.
"We are also working to support the core, key groups of smokers who have been smoking for a long time. We are doing this through consent, not coercion."
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