Yesterday Auckland Council decided to exclude investments in tobacco manufacturing from their updated Responsible Investment Policy. By making this decision, councillors are joining an increasingly large group of business, academic and community leaders who are unwilling to prop up the tobacco industry.
Today the Government announced changes which will improve the quality of E-cigarettes available in New Zealand and increase access to these successful smoking cessation products.
Hāpai Te Hauora strongly support MP Marama Fox and the Māori Party calls for subsidising vape devices as an alternative to cancer and ill health causing cigarettes. “We see this (vaping) as a viable treatment option that should be considered to stop tobacco related illness. The fact is that vaping devices like electronic-cigarettes are far less harmful than smoked cigarettes.
One of the criticisms around tobacco tax is the possibility for disproportionate stress that these taxes can have on low income families. There is evidence to suggest that many low income families will continue to purchase tobacco and will compensate by cutting back on essentials such as bread, milk or electricity.
Smokefree 2025 is the Governments goal to make New Zealand essentially smokefree by 2025. By 2018 the daily smoking will need to fall to 10% and Māori and Pacific adult daily smoking rates to have fallen to 19% and 11% respectively. This means, by 2018 we are aiming for an estimated 58,000 smokers to have quit daily smoking, 27,000 will be Māori and 8,000 Pacific.
Today marks an exciting development in Māori public health advocacy as Hāpai Te Hauora signs a memorandum of understanding with tobacco control research groups ASPIRE2025 and BODE3 from the University of Otago. This relationship will draw on the complementary strengths of each group to inform and progress tobacco control in Aotearoa toward the goal of Smokefree 2025.
Hāpai Te Hauora the voice of Tobacco Control Advocacy encourages people to look closely at the recent New Zealand Health survey results to gain a full picture of the health of New Zealanders.
Hāpai Te Hauora as the National Tobacco Control Advocacy Service produce a fortnightly newsletter containing updates on Tobacco Control locally, regionally, nationally and internationally, as well as information about conferences and events relating to tobacco control.
Every fortnight we will find the latest news stories relating to the key issue areas of Alcohol and Drug Harm, Tobacco Control, Problem Gambling, Nutrition and Physical Activity and Indigenous Health and the general health of Māori from around the world and right here in Aotearoa.
Hāpai Te Hauora was pleased to present at the inaugural tobacco control mini-symposium was held on the 26th October 2016 at the University of Otago, Wellington. General Manager Zoe Martin-Hawke (pictured) said, "It was a great opportunity to provide the sector with an update on the new tobacco control advocacy service."