While welcoming the findings in the latest ASH Year 10 survey that overall youth smoking rates in Aotearoa New Zealand have remained at a record low, Hāpai Te Hauora CEO Selah Hart says the same survey also reveals the need to address the persistently high rates of smoking and vaping among Māori women.

"The big picture here is a positive one," says Ms Hart, whose organisation is charged with anti-tobacco advocacy throughout the motu in support of the Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 goal.

"Continued low rates of daily smoking among youth overall shows that our collective efforts are working.

"But let’s not lose sight now of the big prize - all people of Aotearoa being free by 2025 of the immense harm caused by tobacco."

In the information released today, ASH board member Rebecca Ruwhiu-Collins noted a mixed picture for our young Māori women.

"We are seeing much higher rates of daily vaping among this group than non-Maori, reinforcing the need to get the balance right between preventing uptake, and supporting those who vape daily to quit".

Ms. Hart states "One blatantly obvious concern in today’s release of data is that tamahine Māori (adolescent Māori females) continue to bear the burden of sustained addiction to smoking and vaping.

"We must protect our whakapapa, and this can only be done by working with those most impacted whānau to understand how we can disrupt a long legacy of losing wahine Māori to smoking-related harm and death".

"Let’s pivot all available resources towards helping our young wahine Māori, as the data shows this cohort has the highest vulnerability to continued addiction to smoking and vaping.

Ms Hart said action was needed in the here and now in order to head off generational harm.

"We see Smokefree2025 as one of the key activities in Te Pae Tata, the interim NZ health strategy, led by the newly establisef NZ Public Health Agency within the Ministry of Health.

"The Pae Ora bill now requires Tiriti partnership with iwi Maori to address all areas of health inequity, including the killer addiction of tobacco, and we must have a laser-like focus on the harm caused to our young Māori women in particular," Ms Hart said.

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