By MARTIN JOHNSTON
Heeni Waru has tried to stop smoking at least eight times, but now she reckons she has broken the habit of more than half a lifetime.
The 32-year-old West Aucklander is among hundreds helped by a Government-funded pilot quit-tobacco scheme which may be expanded with fresh taxpayer cash.
Miss Waru,
of Henderson, said yesterday that she smoked 25 cigarettes a day before giving up four months ago with the help of a trained coach, a support group and nicotine-replacement therapy.
"I feel wonderful. I don't feel so tired and yuck," said Miss Waru, who wanted to give up for her two boys, aged 2 and 7. She spends on them the $70 a week she saves by not buying cigarettes.
And she is so switched on to the quit message that she has helped to spread the programme to more than 40 people at the Massey kohanga reo her younger son attends.
The programme, run by Ngati Whatua o Orakei, is one of seven in the $2.8 million, two-year national pilot aimed mainly at Maori women. It provides nicotine gum and patches for up to eight weeks, with support for up to eight months.
Nearly half of all Maori women smoke, compared with a quarter of the adult population across all ethnic groups.
Up to 3500 people are expected to go through the Autaki Kai Paipa pilot programme by next July. Preliminary results show that 37 per cent of participants are smoke-free three months after starting, the figure dropping only 1 percentage point at six months.
"We're really pleased with the progress," said a Health Funding Authority manager, Mary McCulloch. "We would have been really happy with a 25 per cent quitting rate."
The Government has pegged $20 million over four years for Maori quit-smoking programmes, in addition to subsidising gum and patches for all moderate to heavy smokers.
Susan Taylor, of Te Hotu Manawa Maori, which is coordinating the national pilot, said its strengths were that it was run by Maori for Maori, it was free and it combined support with patches and gum. The greatest success was among the 35-plus age group, because they wanted to remain alive for grandchildren, having lost their own grandparents early, possibly through smoking-related diseases.
