Whakauae Research Services Ltd is adding their voice to the many demanding the new coalition government stop plans to repeal the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Act (SERPA); plans recently described in latest issues of the New Zealand Medical Journal “public health vandalism.” (Vol 136 No 1587: 15 December).
In a recently published opinion piece for the British Medical Journal, Research Director Dr Amohia Boulton notes that the decision on the part of the new government undo decades of work to reduce inequities in Māori health outcome. Furthermore, she argues that the decision to scrap the opportunity of creating a truly smoke-free generation will only result in future inequities for years to come.
Whereas the Act would have required the gradual phasing out of nicotine from smoked tobacco and ensure those born after 2009 could not access tobacco products, the government has indicated that smokefree efforts will now focus on vaping as the primary tool for reducing smoking rates. Unfortunately, while the damaging effects of smoking tobacco are undeniable, the long-term health impacts of electronic cigarette use (vaping) remain unknown, because this “disruptive technology” has not been around long enough for researchers to determine the harms that it causes. The rise in uptake of vaping by rangatahi Māori, and the age at which young people are starting to vape, is also huge cause for concern, and makes a mockery of efforts by Māori to create a truly tupeka kore Aotearoa – a nation that is tobacco free, not just smokefree.
Whakauae calls upon the government to reverse its decision, a decision which will not “drive down smoking rates” but is guaranteed to kill more Māori sooner.
