“Go hard” – DHBs urge Government to implement full Smokefree plan

Today all District Health Boards signed an Open Letter of Support to urge the Associate Minister of Health to implement the full Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Action Plan, Dr Nick Chamberlain said.

“Tobacco is the deadliest consumer product still available for sale - if we are to have a chance of achieving the smokefree goal, we need to change our approach. We encourage Minister Verrall to go hard and implement the full Action Plan as proposed,” Nick said.

This is only the second time DHB’s have joined forces for legislative change, previously calling on the Minister of Justice to overhaul the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act as it fails in its objective to minimise alcohol related harm.

“We know that the best way to achieve a smokefree future is for young New Zealanders to never start smoking.

“Nicotine is very addictive and it is really tough to quit smoking, so we need to do everything we can to better support people in their decisions to stop smoking and in their journey to quit.”

The proposed Smokefree 2025 Action Plan will scale up current initiatives and introduce new policy options – such as a smokefree generation, and making smoked tobacco products less available, less addictive and less appealing – to adjust the environment, rather than focusing on individual smokers.

Cigarette smoking is uniquely harmful and kills 14 New Zealanders every day; 2 in 3 cigarette smokers will die as a result of smoking, each losing about ten years of life expectancy.

“Some tobacco control efforts have worked better for some New Zealanders than others, which means future initiatives must focus much more strongly on reducing inequities for New Zealanders.

“Much work still needs to be done - particularly to reduce smoking and the disastrous effect of tobacco among Māori, Pacific peoples and those living in our most disadvantaged communities.

“Currently, Māori are currently not forecast to reach the Smokefree 2025 target until 2060. Cigarette smoking is the most readily preventable cause of health inequity in New Zealand – and if we could achieve the Smokefree 2025 goal for Maori, it would improve Maori life expectancy by two years.

“To accelerate progress towards Smokefree 2025, we must change how we tackle smoking. We will not achieve it with a business-as-usual approach – we need the Minister to go hard!” Nick said.