{"id":13083,"date":"2024-09-19T15:33:38","date_gmt":"2024-09-19T15:33:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/new-zealand-halves-smoking-rates-in-five-years-thanks-to-vapes\/"},"modified":"2025-01-07T12:08:25","modified_gmt":"2025-01-07T12:08:25","slug":"new-zealand-halves-smoking-rates-in-five-years-thanks-to-vapes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/post\/new-zealand-halves-smoking-rates-in-five-years-thanks-to-vapes\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand HALVES smoking rates in five years thanks to vapes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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New Zealand has halved its smoking rates in just five years by supporting adult smokers to switch to vaping, a new report reveals. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Smoking rates in New Zealand are set to dip below five per cent, putting it on the brink of being declared officially \u2018smoke free.\u2019<\/p>\n

Global health campaign group Smoke Free Sweden says the country presents a compelling case study for the \u2018Swedish Model\u2019<\/a> of smoking cessation, where safer nicotine alternatives are made readily available to smokers. <\/p>\n

Its new report<\/a> – \u2018Quitting Strong: New Zealand\u2019s Smoking Cessation Success Story\u2019 – looks at the evolution of tobacco control policy in New Zealand, which started with the \u201cquit or die\u201d approach, but ultimately embraced Sweden\u2019s more effective model. <\/p>\n

The report says: \u201cThe pragmatic approach adopted by these two countries has greatly contributed to the prevention and control of tobacco-related disease, disability and premature death. If other countries follow the policy roadmap they have set out, millions of lives will be saved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sharp drop in smoking rates<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since promoting vapes as a safer alternative to smoking, New Zealand has witnessed a remarkable drop in smoking rates – from 16.4 per cent in 2011 to six per cent in 2023.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the prevalence of adult daily vaping increased from 2.6 per cent to 9.7 per cent in the same timeframe. Most daily vapers (78 per cent) are reported as either ex-smokers, or current smokers (dual users). <\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The decline in smoking was turbo-charged from 2019 when the Ministry of Health launched the smoking cessation website, Vaping Facts, which informed smokers: \u201cVaping is a way to quit cigarettes by getting nicotine with fewer of<\/p>\n

the toxins that come from burning tobacco.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Vape to Quit\u2019 campaign<\/strong><\/p>\n

The following year,  the government launched its Vape to Quit campaign. This initiative, endorsed by the Ministry and associated health groups, actively promoted vaping as a smoking cessation tool.<\/p>\n

Action for Smokefree 2025 (ASH New Zealand), the leading tobacco control NGO, says the country is now on track to reach its 2025 \u2018smoke-free\u2019 goal.<\/p>\n

In responding to falling smoking rates, the New Zealand Public Health Communication Centre concluded that, \u201cthe most plausible explanations for the observed changes in smoking prevalence\u2026 [include] growing use of [vapes] resulting in increased quitting smoking among people who smoke and\/or reduced uptake if young people substitute vaping for smoking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smoke Free Sweden said New Zealand\u2019s success provides an important lesson to the world. Its report says: \u201cNew Zealand\u2019s progress towards a smoke free nation powerfully exemplifies the effectiveness of the Swedish model. This approach, centred on harm reduction and promoting risk-reduced alternatives, demonstrably leads to significant reductions in smoking rates while providing critical controls on underage access and appeal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u200d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Smoking rates in New Zealand are set to dip below five per cent, putting it on the brink of being declared officially \u2018smoke free.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":990002,"featured_media":13093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[257],"tags":[],"slider":[],"class_list":["post-13083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/990002"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13083"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13083\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19178,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13083\/revisions\/19178"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13083"},{"taxonomy":"slider","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/slider?post=13083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}