Matariki 2012 – Make it your time to quit

26 June 2012

Matariki 2012 – Make it your time to quit

The Asthma Foundation, as a founding member of the Smokefree Coalition, has signed a joint submission to the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee (FEC) on the Customs and Excise (Tobacco Products – Budget Measures) Amendment Bill supporting a 40% increase in tobacco tax in 2013!

A 40% tax increase is the most effective way of stopping kids from taking up smoking and encouraging smokers to quit.

Around 5,000 New Zealanders every year die from smoking. In New Zealand more than 200,000 people live with COPD - a debilitating respiratory condition. It is estimated that at least 80 percent of them (160,000-plus people] developed COPD because of smoking. Smoking is also the main cause of lung cancer, which still kills more New Zealanders than any other cancer.

We applaud the government’s goal of a Smokefree Aotearoa by 2025 and we are proud that New Zealand is leading the way with such a definitive goal! Raising the price of cigarettes is a major step in achieving this goal.

‘It’s not only about the government – there needs to be an inclusive, collaborative approach to helping whanau quit.’ says Angela Francis, Chief Executive of the Asthma Foundation.

Matariki is a time of new beginnings and a perfect time for smokers to choose a new, smokefree future.

Angela says ‘Don’t give up, quit! You can do it with the right support, the good news is that there’s more support available than ever before.’

The new bi-lingual publication Me Mutu Tātou, launched by The Hon Tariana Turia, Associate Minister of Health, is designed to support Māori smokers to quit. It is written by Maori for Maori and is based on Sir Professor Mason Durie’s model of Maori health, which incorporates Mauri Ora (cultural Identity), Waiora (physical environment), Toi Ora (healthy lifestyles) and Te Oranga (participation in society).

If you want help quitting, call the Quit Line on 0800 778 778, or visit www.quit.org.nz.

Smoking Facts

Smoking has many negative health effects including increased risk of diseases such as:
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (chronic bronchitis and emphysema)
• Lung cancer
• Heart and circulation disease
• Stroke
• Cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus and pancreas
• diseases of the urinary tract, pelvis, bladder and digestive tract
• blindness

Smoking causes about 25% of all cancer deaths in New Zealand, and one out of every 10 deaths worldwide.

Around 5,000 New Zealanders die each year from smoking.

Second-hand smoke, where non-smokers breathe in the smoke of others around them, can cause heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, asthma and the worsening of asthma symptoms, eye and nasal irritation and nasal sinus cancer.

Exposure of non-smoking women to second-hand smoke during pregnancy can reduce foetal growth, and is also associated with Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Around 350 New Zealanders die each year because of exposure to other people’s tobacco smoke.

About the Asthma Foundation
The Asthma Foundation is New Zealand’s not-for-profit sector authority on asthma and other respiratory illnesses.

We advocate to government and raise awareness of respiratory illnesses, fund research for better treatments and educate on best practice. We provide resources on our website and support our 17 affiliated Asthma Societies in providing education, support and advice.

www.asthmafoundation.org.nz

ENDS

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