Stoptober kicks off in Kaitaia

The Stoptober crew, and Northland MP Mike Sabin, roll into Kaitaia at the start of a nationwide campaign. PICTURE/PETRINA HODGSON

A new campaign to encourage New Zealand's 460,000 smokers to give up tobacco rolled out in Kaitaia on Monday.

Stoptober, the Ministry of Health's biggest-ever stop smoking challenge, features a big red ball that will roll throughout this month, with smoking cessation providers signing up those who want to quit.

Among those at Monday's launch were Allan Namana and Pauline Blair-Namana from Panguru, who have been smoke-free since August.

"It's pretty awesome," Mr Namana said. "I'm doing it for my kids. I don't have to waste my money on it anymore."

Mrs Blair-Namana said she had tried quitting many times in the past, only to take it up again a few months later.

"It has brought us closer together as a whanau. We do a lot more activity with the kids, walks on the beach and running together, the kids love it. And there's definitely more money in the pocket."

Figures from last year's Census showed Northlanders were leading the national trend of stopping smoking, with the highest proportion of people who had given up: 28.1 per cent of the population (29,400 people) identified themselves as ex-smokers, compared with 22.9 per cent nationally.

The proportion of adults in the region who said they were regular smokers fell from 25.7 per cent in 2006 to 19.1 per cent in 2013, a decrease of 5853 people. Among people in Northland aged 15-19 years, the proportion who regularly smoke fell from 24.8 per cent in 2006 to 14.2 per cent in 2013. That meant there were 1119 fewer smokers in that age group in the region, a decrease of 49.1 per cent since 2006.

Smoking remains the leading cause of avoidable death and disease in New Zealand, however. An estimated 5000 New Zealanders, 600 of them Maori, die every year from tobacco-related causes. Tobacco is related to a quarter of all deaths in Northland and 47 per cent of all Maori deaths in the region. It is a major factor in the difference of 14.9 years in life expectancy between Maori and non-Maori in the region.

The ministry says damage caused by smoking is a major problem in Northland, with smoking-related hospitalisations 1.5 times higher than the national rate. An average smoker would save well over $2000 a year by quitting.

The Government's goal was for New Zealand to be smoke-free, which really means less than 5 per cent of the population smoking, by 2025.

Go to www.stoptobernz.co.nz to register for the Stoptober campaign and get stop-smoking support (face-to-face, online and phone), motivational texts and emails, a free Stoptober app in te reo Maori and English, and nicotine replacement products. To get help talk to your local health provider, Aukati Kai Paipa quit coach (www.aukatikaipaipa.co.nz) or call Quitline on 0800 778-778.