Smokefree target is way off track

Dr Hayden McRobbie, Dr Marewa Glover and Kim Tito, working with participants at the hui. Photo / John Stone

Northland needs to quadruple the number of Maori smokers quitting each year if the region has any hope of meeting the national smokefree target by 2025.

Exactly how to do that was the topic of the Tai Tokerau Tobacco Control Hui at Manaia Primary Health Organisation in Whangarei. Dr Marewa Glover, from University of Auckland, said a culture change was needed in Northland.

"It seems normal when so many people smoke.

"The kids see it and they think it's normal adult behaviour."

She herself knew how difficult it was to quit smoking after starting when she was 13. Dr Glover said she only stopped after she got very sick in her early 20s, which likely saved her life. Data covering 2013 shows more than 19,986 people in Northland aged 15 and over smoke regularly, or about 19.1 per cent. That was down from 25.7 per cent in the 2006 Census.

However, the region had a higher rate of smokers than the rest of the country with Maori more likely to be smokers than non Maori.

Northland District Health Board general manager of Maori health Kim Tito said while about 250 Maori were successfully quitting a year, it needs to be about 1000 to meet the national smokefree target.

In 2011 the Government set a goal of reducing the rate of smoking prevalence to five per cent or less by 2025.

"Despite everything that's currently happening we won't get there with Maori," Mr Tito said. Even he admits he used to be a social smoker many years ago at nursing school.

The hui worked collaboratively with consumers, providers and tobacco experts to generate ideas to create opportunities for the delivery of quit smoking services across the region.

Dr Hayden McRobbie said the 2025 target was a tough goal requiring new approaches.

"We really need to think outside of what is business as usual for us." He splits his time between New Zealand and the UK where he works at the University of London and the National Health Service.

Most people who smoke do not want to but face many barriers to quitting, Dr McRobbie said.

"The key is just to keep on going. Don't feel you've failed."

-For more information on how to quit smoking call Quitline on 0800 778 778 or visit www.quit.org.nz