The New Zealand health sector pursues a wide range of tobacco control interventions and these have intensified after the adoption of the Government’s “Smokefree Nation by 2025” goal (e.g., smokefree prisons in 2011, plans for additional tobacco tax increases in the 2012 budget, and a retail display ban in 2012). In our work, we intend to compare a number of potential tobacco control interventions in terms of health impact (using health-adjusted life-years), and reductions in health inequalities (Maori relative to non-Maori; and in terms of population group by differing levels of area deprivation).
As part of this process we developed a protocol for health economic modelling and completed initial forecasting modelling on tobacco use in New Zealand.
However, as in every part of the health sector, priorities have to be set for tobacco research and policy making. Consequently, we sought expert opinion on what tobacco control interventions to preferentially consider for health economic modelling, and we present the results of this exercise here.
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