Smoking Numbers Down In National Health Survey

The Annual NZ Health Survey has released results for 2022 which provides valuable information about the health and wellbeing of whānau living in Aotearoa. The 2021/22 results are based on data collected between September 2021 and August 2022.

The New Zealand Health Survey, shows that adult daily smoking rates have fallen to a historical low of 8% down from 9.4%.

Selah Hart, CEO of National Māori Public Health organisation Hāpai Te Hauora, says this is a positive result. "We are extremely delighted to see the smoking rates for Māori slowly decreasing. We acknowledge those who have made the incredible decision to kick the habit, especially wāhine Māori who have for many years had the highest rates, we mihi to you all."

The results show inequities continue in the rates of smoking among Māori when compared to the general population. The overall daily smoking rate for Māori has declined from 22.3% from last year’s survey to 19.9% in the last 12 months, however there still remains much more we must do to reach the Smokefree 2025 goal of 5%.

Continuing to resource smoking cessation support services is crucial to further address the inequity that Māori and Pasifika face in smoking cessation. Although the rates for non-Māori are close to the 5% Smokefree 2025 goal at 7.2%, Hāpai calls on our decision makers to ensure a concentrated effort on addressing the clear inequity for Māori and Pasifika who remain marginalised is taken seriously and at pace.

Alongside the decrease in smoking across the population, the survey demonstrates an increase in the number of people vaping on a daily basis. Hāpai continue to support the use of vapes as a smoking cessation tool for adults who smoke, however protecting our rangatahi from the addictive nicotine in vapes and the potential health impacts of vaping, needs specific and directed attention, resourcing and effort from all parts of the health system.

The current amendments to the Smokefree Environments Regulated (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill in Parliament is an important mechanism for ensuring that we reach our goal together.

"The changes in the Bill represent a pivotal opportunity for our communities to build on the successes we see in the Health Survey so far, while creating environments to enable our whānau to thrive and ensure our tamariki remain smokefree in the future." says Hart.

"We’d like to acknowledge all of the support services, the rangatahi and kaimahi who work behind the scenes to advocate for social, political and environmental changes who have contributed to this very important cause. We must however, remain at high alert, we are so close to some significant legislative changes to support communities to attain and remain smokefree, a moment in time that has taken decades to reach, and we cannot lose the momentum now.

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