Read articles from New Zealand

November 18, 2022 by rnz.co.nz

The number of people who smoke cigarettes daily has dropped to an all-time low of 8 percent, down from 9.4 percent this time last year.

But figures in the Annual NZ Health survey show the daily rate for Māori is still far higher: 19.9 percent, down from 22.3 percent.

While there has been a reduction in tobacco smoking, tobacco and e-cigarette use continues to grow, rising from 6 percent last year to 8.3 percent this year, with usage highest among 18-to 24-year-olds

Māori public health organisation Hāpai Te Hauora said more work was needed to help the country get to its Smokefree 2025 goal of 5 percent.

November 15, 2022 by scoop.co.nz

“New Zealand’s Asthma and Respiratory Foundation (ARFNZ) is once again making health claims without providing any evidence. If they want their warnings to be taking seriously, they need to provide some proof,” says Nancy Loucas, co-founder of AVCA (Aotearoa Vapers Community Advocacy). [...] AVCA says ARFNZ should read the internationally published medical studies by Professor Riccardo Polosa. He is an award winning and renowned expert in respiratory health and Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR).

November 11, 2022 by scoop.co.nz

Several leading international Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) experts have compiled and published extensive research which slams the World Health Organization’s (WHO) official health claims about vaping.

Titled ‘The Subversion of Public Health: Consumer Perspectives’, the recently released white paper hits back at the WHO’s claim that ‘never-smoker minors who use ENDS (Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems) can double their chance of starting to smoke tobacco cigarettes later in life.’

November 08, 2022 by clivebates.com

In this blog, we take a look at modelling used to justify ‘endgame’ legislation under discussion in New Zealand. Among other things, this would reduce nicotine in cigarettes and other tobacco available through legal channels to minimal levels. We find the modelling and data assumptions bear no relation whatsoever to the underlying processes and the effects that such legislation would trigger. Deep cuts in smoking are assumed as inputs to the model. Unsurprisingly, therefore, the model results show deep cuts in smoking, and this determines the resulting health benefits. But the assumptions have no grounding in reality and misinterpret and misuse trial findings.

November 07, 2022 by qeios.com

Building on recent progress towards the New Zealand Smokefree 2025 goal, the Government plans to introduce tobacco control legislation giving ministers powers to implement three significant new policies:

a steep reduction in the number of retail outlets that can sell tobacco;
a ‘smokefree generation’ proposal that would make it illegal to sell tobacco to anyone born after a certain date, and;
[...]
In preparation for this legislation, the Ministry of Health funded academics from Australia and New Zealand to model estimates of the likely impact of these measures, especially their contribution to achieving the Smokefree 2025 goal.

October 27, 2022 by nzherald.co.nz

Authorities have requested importers and manufacturers of vape products to review the nicotine concentrations, with the potential for products to be withdrawn if they exceeded limits.

This comes as TVNZ's Fair Go reported the Ministry of Health may have been given false or misleading information about the amount of nicotine in some products.

The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act required products to be accurately labelled with the concentration of nicotine in mg/mL.

October 11, 2022 by scoop.co.nz

“It’s vaping advocates who first raised concerns about the proliferation of dairies becoming specialist vape retailers (SVRs). New Zealand’s Asthma and Respiratory Foundation’s (ARFNZ) latest round of public scaremongering is not helpful,” says Nancy Loucas, co-founder of Aotearoa Vapers Community Advocacy (AVCA). “Not one Kiwi has reportedly died from vaping, yet 5,000 die every year from smoking-related illnesses. Despite this, the ARFNZ continues to obsess about the most effective smoking cessation tool we have. Its latest media beat up doesn’t help one Kiwi quit tobacco nor help New Zealand achieve Smokefree Aotearoa 2025,” she says.

September 14, 2022 by scoop.co.nz

“We are relying heavily on MPs to read and act on the valuable submissions to Parliament’s Health Select Committee which provide expert and practical solutions to help New Zealand achieve Smokefree Aotearoa 2025,” says Nancy Loucas co-founder of the Aotearoa Vapers Community Advocacy (AVCA). The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill limits the number of retailers able to sell smoked tobacco products, aims to make tobacco products less appealing and addictive, and prohibits the sale of tobacco products to anyone born in 2009 or after.

September 06, 2022 by planetofthevapes.co.uk

The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) has welcomed the Action on Smoking and Health report showing vaping success in the United Kingdom. “Smoking in Britain is dramatically falling, largely because adults keen to quit have been able to switch to considerably less harmful vaping,” says Nancy Loucas, Executive Coordinator of CAPHRA.
Loucas’ comments come as the UK’s Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) released a report which it says shows a “vaping revolution” has taken place over the past decade. [...]

August 31, 2022 by nzherald.co.nz

Foodstuffs NZ and Z Energy are lobbying the Government to drop a proposed immediate limit to the number of retailers able to sell tobacco products in an amendment bill deemed world-leading smoking legislation.

But the Cancer Society NZ says maintaining the thousands of tobacco retailers across the country will significantly hinder New Zealand's Smokefree 2025 aim.

The health select committee today heard public submissions on the bill, which would mean people aged 14 and under would never be able to legally buy tobacco and dramatically reduce nicotine levels.