Introduction

In 2007 work commenced on defining a Vision for a tobacco free New Zealand. The initial steps taken were later reviewed by a group of 35 tobacco control experts, academics and health promoters during a hui at the National Heart Foundation on 21 April 2008.

The Smokefree Coalition launched its Achieving the Vision 2020 background document Tupeka Kore Aotearoa 2020 Tobacco Free New Zealand 2020 Achieving the Vision in early 2010. Included in the background documents is a timeline outlining the actions necessary to achieve the Vision.

You can order free printed copies of Tupeka Kore Aotearoa 2020 Tobacco Free New Zealand 2020 Achieving the Vision by emailing Smokefree Coalition Director Prudence Stone or download a web version here (PDF approx 2Mb).

Tupeka kore/Tobacco free Aotearoa/New Zealand by 2020 

The Vision:

Future generations of New Zealand children will be free from exposure to tobacco and will enjoy smokefree lives.

Rationale:

Tupeka kore/Tobacco free Aotearoa/New Zealand is an urgent priority because:

• tobacco has a catastrophic impact on the health of New Zealanders and urgent action is required to eliminate these effects.
• almost all smokers start before the age of 18; two thirds regret starting and want to quit
• smoking is the single most important cause of premature and preventable deaths in New Zealand;
• tobacco is still widely promoted, distributed and sold by multi-national tobacco companies who aggressively market their deadly products, including to children
• in relation to the harm it causes, the tobacco industry is seriously unregulated
• eradicating smoking from New Zealand is the single most important and attainable policy action to reduce inequalities in mortality for Māori and Pacific peoples
• the decline in smoking prevalence in New Zealand is too slow. At the present rate it will take 70 years to eliminate smoking from our society.

Taking action:

Our vision is about creating a national identity that protects our children by being proud to be tobacco free. This will be achieved through a social movement against tobacco in New Zealand.

Objectives:

By 2020 exposure of children to tobacco will be eliminated by achieving the following goals:

• Children will be protected from exposure to tobacco and the marketing and promotion of tobacco products.
• There will be no supply of, or demand for, tobacco as consumer products in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
• All smokers will be empowered to quit and supported by effective quit-smoking support services and products.

Achieving the Vision:

Achieving the vision will require a social movement through the widespread support and empowerment of health professionals, communities, whānau, hapu and iwi, businesses and local and national policy makers.

Three key strategies

The following strategies are a starting point, to be built on over time as knowledge improves and support builds. The three key strategies are:

1. Protecting children from exposure to tobacco
2. Reducing the demand and supply of tobacco products
3. Increasing successful quitting.

Protecting children from exposure to tobacco

Children will be protected from exposure to smoking and the promotion of tobacco products. This will be achieved using the following policies:

• Tobacco retail displays will be banned.
• Plain packaging and graphic warnings will replace brand imagery.
• All locations where young people are present will be smokefree.
• Parents and caregivers will be empowered to be smokefree to protect their children from becoming smokers.
• The tactics and activities of the tobacco industry will be exposed.

Reducing the demand and supply of tobacco products

Tobacco products will be restricted and controlled in line with the harm they cause. This will be achieved using the following policies:

• Tobacco retail prices will increase systematically and significantly; prices will be harmonised for 'roll your own' tobacco.
• Misleading product labelling will be banned.
• The supply and sale of tobacco products will be controlled.
• The range and constituents of tobacco products will be controlled.

Increasing successful quitting

All smokers will be encouraged to quit and will have full access to state of the art quit-smoking support services and products through the following policies:

• A full range of effective quit smoking options will be available to all smokers at minimal costs.
• All health care professionals will understand and implement quit-smoking interventions and referrals.
• Education will change misconceptions about nicotine that currently act as a barrier to the use of quit smoking products.
• Product innovation of effective and safe ways to manage nicotine addiction will take place.
• Cigarettes will be phased out as a consumer product.

Conclusion

We now set our sights on a social movement that will make New Zealand a tobacco free nation by 2020

Further reading

Read Closing the Gap in a Generation, the World Health Organization's report on the social determinants of health and its recommendations on how to reduce health disparities.

• PDF (7.28Mb)
• Executive Summary, plain text (82Kb)