Effective Access to Tobacco Dependence Treatment, New Zealand

World Health Organization

University of California at San Francisco, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education from Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, UC San Francisco

Abstract: At the beginning of 1998 New Zealand lacked tobac-co dependence treatments. Only a small amount of Government funding was committed to smoking cessation programmes and it was difficult for many people to find help in quitting. Most of the cessation programmes availa-ble were offered by the private sector. These programmes were few in number, often expensive and tended to target white, middle-class smokers. There was little help available for Maori – New Zealand’s indigenous population – 50% of whom smoke. In addition, broader tobacco control measures that would indirectly support smoking cessation were lacking. Health warnings were weak, smoke-free environments largely confined to offices and public transport, and there had not been a significant increase in tobacco excise since 1991. For several years the tobacco control community in New Zealand lobbied for a smoking cessation media campaign and the provision of help for individuals. The Government listened. In 2003, New Zealand has one of the most advanced mixes of population-level smoking cessation initiatives in the world. In five years it has gone from almost zero Government funding of smoking ces-sation programmes, to funding of around NZ$ 13 million per annum. This is nearly 50% of the total New Zealand tobacco control budget.1 The initiatives include a national Quitline, subsidized nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), Maori-focused quit services including quit support and NRT for Maori women and their whanau (families), and a hospital-based quit service for inpatients and their families. Broader measures supporting smoking cessation are also in place or planned, including stronger health warnings, a ban on point-of-sale advertising, legislation that proposes to ban or severely restrict smoking in workplaces, and sig-nificant excise increases in 1998 and 2000.

Keywords: The Quit Campaign; policy; whanau; Aukati Kai Paipa; smoking cessation; NRT; Quitline (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003-01-01
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