New regulations to reduce youth vaping include important measures that will limit disposable vapes, and recognise these devices have become the product of choice among rangatahi.
Vaping among adolescents and young people increased markedly over the last 6-7 years with around one in ten 14-15 year olds and over one in five 18-24 year olds vaping daily by 2022.
New Zealand Health Survey (NZHS) data released in early December suggest substantial reductions in smoking prevalence occurred between 2019/20 and 2020/21 among all ethnic groups.
A decade has passed since the then National-led government accepted the Māori Affairs Select Committee (MASC) Inquiry recommendation that New Zealand set a “longer-term goal of reducing smoking prevalence and tobacco availability to minimal levels, thereby [becoming] essentially a smokefree nation by 2025.”
The Government’s proposed Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Action Plan sets out a perceptive vision for reducing smoking prevalence and ensuring that, once the goal is reached, future generations