{"id":26565,"date":"2025-09-17T12:06:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T12:06:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/?p=26565"},"modified":"2025-09-17T12:06:23","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T12:06:23","slug":"rapid-switch-from-smoking-to-vaping-helping-close-new-zealands-major-health-gaps-expert-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/post\/rapid-switch-from-smoking-to-vaping-helping-close-new-zealands-major-health-gaps-expert-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Rapid switch from smoking to vaping helping close New Zealand\u2019s major health gaps, expert says"},"content":{"rendered":"
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New Zealand\u2019s rapid decline in smoking rates – driven by a rapid switch to vaping – is helping to narrow some of the country\u2019s starkest health inequalities, according to a public health expert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA P\u0101keh\u0101 [New Zealander of European descent] boy born in Waikato [a region in New Zealand\u2019s North Island] today can expect to live eight years longer than his M\u0101ori [the Indigenous people of New Zealand] neighbour,\u201d said Ruth Bonita, Emeritus Professor of Population Health at the University of Auckland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPacific infants [children from Pasifika communities such as Samoa, Tonga and Fiji] face mortality rates that have barely shifted in two decades.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSmoking accounts for almost a third of the M\u0101ori-non-M\u0101ori life expectancy gap. If the Government wants to close the gap quickly, smoking is the low-hanging fruit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smoking rates collapse<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The numbers back up Bonita\u2019s argument. Daily smoking among M\u0101ori adults fell from almost 29 per cent in 2011\/12 to 14.7 per cent in 2023\/24. Across the whole population, smoking dropped from 16.4 per cent to 6.9 per cent over the same period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The turning point coincided with a sharp rise in vaping. Bonita said: \u201cTrials and real-world evidence show that vaping is more effective for quitting smoking than conventional nicotine replacement therapies.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daily vape use grew from under one per cent in 2015\/16 to 11 per cent in 2023\/24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe pace of decline accelerated four-fold after 2018\/19. That is not incremental progress. It\u2019s a world-leading success story,\u201d Bonita said. \u201cCorrelation is not causation, but the alignment is strong and consistent with international evidence,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vaping\u2019s key role<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople smoke to access nicotine but they die from the smoke not the nicotine,\u201d Bonita said. While not risk-free, she argued vaping is \u201cfar less harmful\u201d than cigarettes and offers \u201ca practical off-ramp from cigarettes and a path towards being nicotine-free altogether.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She acknowledged concerns about youth uptake of vaping, but urged perspective. \u201cThese measures should not undermine vaping\u2019s role as a cessation tool for the remaining 300,000 adults who smoke.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Policy steps<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Bonita supports strong action to protect young people, including banning disposables, enforcing age-of-sale laws and curbing youth-appealing products. But she said the bigger opportunity lies in targeted measures to lock in the gains among adults. These include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n