25 years of tobacco control success

ASH Media statement
17 May 2007

25 years of tobacco control success: ASH appoints new director to head future challenges

This year marks 25 years of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) NZ, the group dedicated to reducing/fighting the death toll of tobacco in New Zealand.

Smokefree Bars are a thing of the past, tobacco advertising is banned and smoking rates are slowly on there way down.

Despite this, tobacco is still the number one cause of premature death in New Zealand. ASH NZ has appointed a new director to take on fresh challenges.

Ben Youdan takes over from Becky Freeman who has moved on to tobacco control work in Australia.

Ben Youdan comes to ASHNZ from the UK where he was Chief Executive of the charity ‘No Smoking Day’ an organisation dedicated to helping smokers who want to stop. Ben has worked internationally as part of the European Network on Tobacco Control and supported the setting up of No Smoking Day campaigns in Europe and New Zealand.

“New Zealand has an excellent track record in tackling tobacco, but there’s still plenty we need to get done,” says Mr Youdan.

“Tobacco is taking the lives of 5000 New Zealanders every year. That’s like 2 jumbo jets full of passengers crashing every week. It is totally unacceptable that this level of tragedy continues when we have the power to prevent these deaths”.

Mr Youdan also believes that New Zealand needs to remove point of sale displays and put them under the counter so it’s out of sight, and hence out of mind, as soon as possible.

“The tobacco industry has had a grip on New Zealanders for far too long. It’s a priority to get rid of their final strangleholds such as retail advertising, branding and the fact that something so deadly is almost totally unregulated”.

ASH NZ Was set up by concerned health professionals in 1982, ASH NZ works to increase awareness of tobacco and the industry that produces the product, advocate for policies that help people quit smoking, and to improve the health of all New Zealanders by reducing tobacco use.
ENDS

ASH Background: 25 Years of success
1982 ASH was founded by Professor Robert Beaglehole with a budget of $15,000. A part time worker was employed.
1983 Tobacco listed as a toxic substance in the Toxic Substances Act.
1986 Great New Zealand Smokefree Week. Taxation increase of 70c.
1990 Smoke-free Environments Bill passed.
1995 Tobacco advertising banned and equalisation of tax on all tobacco products.
1996 Tobacco sponsorship banned.
1999 Subsidised nicotine replacement therapy made available for addicted smokers.
2002 First case filed in the High Court against the tobacco industry in New Zealand. Civil legal aid granted to sue the tobacco industry for the first time.
2003 An amendment to the Smoke-free Environments Act 1990 was passed. The amendment (the Smoke-free Environments Amendment Act 2003), required, among other things that: licensed premises (bars, restaurants, cafes, sports clubs, casinos) become smokefree indoors from 10 December 2004 and other workplaces become smokefree indoors from 10 December 2004 – including offices, factories, warehouses, work canteens and ‘smoko’ rooms.
2006 Associate Minister of Health Damien O’Conner announces the introduction of picture warnings in cigarette packets sold in New Zealand from 2008.
2007 ASH calls on government to ban point of sale display of cigarettes and put them under the counter.

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