The world will be watching New Zealand closely as it prepares to consider legislation that will limit the sale of tobacco, in a bid to eventually phase out smoking altogether.
Under the proposed legislation, expected to be put before Parliament early next year, anyone born after 2008 will not be able to buy cigarettes or tobacco products in their lifetime.
“We want to make sure young people never start smoking,” Ayesha Verrall, New Zealand’s associate health minister, said on Dec 9 when announcing the government’s Smoke-free 2025 Action Plan.
The plan aims to reduce the national smoking rate to below 5 percent by 2025, with a goal of eventually bringing it down to zero.
Health experts have welcomed the “world-leading” reforms to reduce access to tobacco and restrict nicotine in cigarettes.
If enacted next year, people ages 14 and under will not be able to purchase tobacco in New Zealand, with the legal smoking age rising yearly.
A Maori Advisory Taskforce is being created to help achieve better outcomes for Maori indigenous people, while support measures will be prioritized to help current smokers quit and to prevent people from lighting up in the first place.
As of now, 13 percent of New Zealand’s adults smoke, while the rate is almost 29 percent among the indigenous Maori adult population. Maori also suffer higher rates of disease and death.
According to the health ministry, smoking causes one in four cancers and remains the leading cause of preventable death for the nation’s 5 million people. The tobacco industry has been the target of lawmakers for more than a decade.
Natalie Walker, associate professor in population health and director of the Centre for Addiction Research at the faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, described the government’s action plan as a “game changer” in the fight against smoking.
“We know from experience that utilizing a combination of policy interventions will have the biggest impact on tobacco use in New Zealand, particularly in those populations with higher smoking rates than the general population. The proposed combination of policies is perfect,” Walker told China Daily.
Janet Hoek, a professor of public health at the University of Otago, Wellington, said the government’s plan recognizes that 4,500 deaths caused by smoking each year is “completely unacceptable”.
“The measures outlined draw on robust research evidence and will save thousands of New Zealanders from a painful and premature death,” she said.
Chris Bullen, a professor of public health at the University of Auckland, said, “As a doctor, tobacco control researcher and advocate for many years, I was hoping to see a plan that would have the best chance of getting rid of the harm and misery caused by tobacco smoking, for all people in Aotearoa.” Aotearoa is the Maori name for New Zealand.
Collin Tukuitonga, a professor and associate dean at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland, said the government is to be “commended” for a trendsetting strategy to accelerate the reduction of smoking.
“Experience with the COVID-19 vaccination rollout has reminded us of the importance and impact of community-led events. Maori and Pacific communities should be trusted, empowered and resourced to lead the design and delivery of community information and education,” Tukuitonga said.
