New Zealand's acceptance of safer nicotine products has spearheaded an unprecedented drop in smoking rates in its indigenous communities - can its neighbour Australia leaern a thing or two from New Zealand's success? In this latest episode of GFN News Will Godfrey joins us to highlight a recent paper by Colin Mendelsohn exploring New Zealand's plummeting smoking rates.
Chapters:
0:00 - Coming up on today's programme 0:32 - New Zealand's plummeting smoking rates 1:27 - Is vaping responsible for NZ's smoking decline? 2:49 - Can THR help reach marginalised communities?Transcription:
00:04
Joanna Junak: Hello and welcome. I'm Joanna Junak and this is GFN News on GFN.TV. Today we will be speaking with Will Godfrey of FILTER about the implications of some recent research. Hi Will. What would you like to highlight for us today?
00:36
Will Godfrey: Hi, Joanna. A recent study published in the Addiction Journal compared smoking and vaping trends in Australia and New Zealand. One of its authors was Colin Mendelsohn, a doctor and leading advocate for tobacco harm reduction in Australia. You've already spoken with Colin on GFN TV about some of their findings, which showed a much better smoking cessation trajectory in New Zealand with pro-vape policies than in Australia, which has extremely heavy restrictions. But what I want to focus on is one specific aspect of the findings, which Colin described in an article for Filter. Namely, the decline in smoking within New Zealand's indigenous and low-income populations, which outpaced that in Australia's equivalent populations, as well as that in New Zealand's general population.
01:28
Joanna Junak: So can you give us some more detail about those findings?
01:33
Will Godfrey: Yes, from 2016 to 2023, smoking prevalence in the most disadvantaged socioeconomic quintile fell at 12% per year in New Zealand versus 4% annually in Australia, so three times faster. Similarly, smoking in New Zealand's Maori population fell at a remarkable 16% per year from 2019 to 2023, compared with an annual decline for indigenous Australians of 6%, so almost three times faster. Higher vaping uptake within these populations in New Zealand mirrored the more rapid smoking cessation there. Do these results prove that vaping caused the difference? Perhaps not quite, wrote Colin. However, alternative explanations are unlikely for a number of reasons. Our research examined a wide range of other potential contributing factors and found no good evidence that any played a significant role, he continued, listing variables like taxation, affordability and economic conditions. It's therefore overwhelmingly likely, he concluded, that vaping is the key driver of New Zealand's success.
02:50
Joanna Junak: And why is this element of the study of special importance?
02:54
Will Godfrey: Right across the world, members of marginalized populations, people on low incomes, indigenous people, LGBTQ people, people with mental health conditions and more, smoke at far higher rates than average. So they bear a grossly disproportionate burden of smoking-related disease and death. And it's these populations that tobacco harm reduction has the most potential to help. I think it's hugely important to highlight this clear-cut example from two countries with many similarities but very different vaping policies of vapes as a tool for health equity. There's an economic layer to this too. When vaping usually costs less than smoking, households on low incomes are left with more money to put towards other needs when somebody makes the switch. All of which points to why I'm baffled and frustrated when many of those politicians who preach health equity and social justice in other arenas fail to join the dots when it comes to tobacco harm reduction. It's a message we need to amplify.
04:00
Joanna Junak: Thank you Will. That's all for today. Tune in next time here on GFN TV or on our podcast. And make sure to check out our social media pages for the latest updates on this year's Global Forum on Nicotine conference. Thanks for watching or listening. See you next time.