New Zealand is on the cusp of becoming one of the first countries to go officially smoke-free – and it’s thanks to vaping and other safer nicotine alternatives, according to its Associate Minister of Health.
In a passionate parliamentary speech, Casey Costello credited the country’s harm reduction approach with cutting adult smoking rates nearly in half over the past decade.
She slammed “scaremongering” and ideological opposition that threaten to derail progress toward a five per cent daily smoking rate, which is the World Health Organisation’s benchmark for a smoke-free nation.
Costello told parliament New Zealand had moved beyond “virtue-signalling catchphrases” to deliver a “clear, supported, reduced-harm pathway from smoking.”
Adult smoking rate nearly halved
That pathway has included the use of vaping as a quit-smoking tool through public health services, and it’s worked. Since 2011, the adult smoking rate has nearly halved from 13.1 per cent to 6.9 per cent in 2024. New Zealand is now within reaching distance of smoke-free status, with many experts pointing to its embrace of harm reduction as the reason.
Dr. Delon Human, former secretary general of the World Medical Association and current head of Smoke Free Sweden, praised Costello’s stance as an example of “what public health leadership should look like.”
“New Zealand has achieved in less than a decade what many countries have failed to accomplish in generations,” he said. “And they’ve done it by embracing the science of harm reduction rather than succumbing to moral panic.”
He added: “When Associate Minister Costello talks about cutting through the ‘scaremongering’ and ‘noise’ to focus on practical solutions, she’s describing exactly the challenge we face across much of the world.”
Long term smokers ‘need tools and support’ to quit
Costello made clear that supporting people who smoke – especially those who are most addicted – requires more than slogans or bans. “There are long-term, addicted smokers who need to be given the tools and support they need to quit,” she said, defending the country’s pragmatic focus on access to safer alternatives.
New Zealand’s model builds on harm reduction lessons from Sweden, which has long led the European Union in low smoking rates primarily through widespread use of snus and nicotine pouches.
Sweden has already hit smoke-free status and has the lowest tobacco-related disease rates in Europe. Now, New Zealand’s vaping-inclusive approach is proving that a modern harm reduction model can succeed beyond Scandinavia.
“Too often, public health policy is driven by ideology rather than evidence,” said Dr. Human. “New Zealand shows us what’s possible when we listen to front-line quit-smoking workers and focus on what actually works.”
Costello’s speech also quoted Professor Robert Beaglehole, a global health authority and prominent advocate for tobacco harm reduction, who said New Zealand is “leading the world in reducing smoking.”
Saving lives
Dr. Human agreed, saying Costello deserves recognition for refusing to “recoil from the fight” against those who oppose safer alternatives. “Her commitment to evidence-based policy over populist gestures represents the kind of courageous leadership that saves lives,” he said.
With daily smoking rates nearing the five per cent target, New Zealand is showing that success is not just possible – it’s repeatable, if governments are willing to follow the evidence.
Smoke Free Sweden is now urging other nations to follow suit. It said: “We call on policymakers worldwide to study New Zealand’s success and consider how similar harm reduction approaches could accelerate progress toward smoke-free goals across the continent.”
