Health NZ plans to order vapes, including flavours such as blueberry, to give to people wanting to quit smoking. Photo / NZME
The Government plans to buy more vaping devices to give to people attempting to quit smoking, Newstalk ZB can reveal.
The devices – possibly in the thousands – will include flavours such as cinnamon and blueberry.
But it’s led to concerns from some health groups, including General Practitioners Aotearoa who say the move is naive and the devices aren’t medically approved.
Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora has sought quotes from the vaping industry – offering a “significant opportunity” and even talking up potential PR gains for the successful bidder.
“[It will] enhance the supplier’s profile and credibility as a trusted partner in the regulated vaping market, with visibility across New Zealand’s health system.”
Since the beginning of this year, Health NZ has been providing vapes to 29 stop-smoking programmes around the country as part of a pilot programme.
The vaping kits have had varying degrees of success.
Health NZ says between January and July, 4326 people quit smoking within four weeks, proven by a carbon-monoxide breath test.
Just over 1400 of those people – roughly 33% of the total – received a vaping kit, although Health NZ says it’s given out 3000 kits.
It’s now put a tender out for more vapes but won’t say if this is an extension of the pilot, or a new permanent programme.
“This request for quotes (RFQ) will help Health NZ make permanent funding decisions in the future, depending on outcomes,” a spokeswoman said.
Health NZ also won’t say how many it wants to order – but it previously ordered 3000 vaping kits at a cost of $575,000.
The RFQ is looking for vapes with removable nicotine-filled pods to supply one user for up to three months.
It seeks pods with strengths from zero nicotine to 28.5mg/ml – the legal maximum in New Zealand.
It’s also seeking three flavours – menthol, cinnamon and blueberry.
Health NZ’s Saskia Booiman says the outcomes from the pilot have given the organisation confidence to continue supplying vapes and it’s gone to the market to find the best deal.
“Vaping, alongside other nicotine replacement therapies such as gum, lozenges, and patches, offers an additional option to support smoking cessation.
“Following the RFQ process, an evaluation panel will review and score proposals based on the criteria listed in the RFQ and make recommendations.”
Booiman also provided a copy of Health NZ’s criteria for providers, including requiring proper assessments of patients, and not providing kits to non-smokers or youth.
It also requires patients be told vapes aren’t an approved stop-smoking medicine.
It also won’t accept quotes from providers with connections to the tobacco industry.
Dr Buzz Burrell, a doctor who chairs General Practitioners Aotearoa, says the approach boils down to one line.
“Gosh, you’re addicted to inhaling nicotine. Let me help you by teaching you how to inhale nicotine,” Burrell said.
“There is something really fundamentally naive and odd about that sentence. It is disturbing, especially given the fact that it may be less dangerous, but it’s still dangerous.”
Burrell said that when swallowing a substance, it will hit your brain within 15-20 minutes. If you intravenously inject it, it takes a minute.
But inhaling a substance takes just 20 seconds to hit your brain.
“Inhaling is a fantastic way to stay addicted to something.
“Are we really trying to get people off nicotine addiction by saying ‘here, we’ve got three flavours to go for?’.
“There are more intelligent ways to get people off smoking.”
The Asthma and Respiratory Foundation’s CEO Letitia Harding agreed.
“I find it very strange that this is being pushed so much with very little evidence behind it,” Harding said.
“It’s certainly starting to feel like a permanent programme.
“These products are not indicated as a smoking cessation tool, they’re not registered with Medsafe.”
Harding said there wasn’t enough evidence to say vapes were a good tool to help smokers quit.
Labour’s Ayesha Verrall says it’s not something she would prioritise, saying vapes are already readily available.
She took issue with the language in the RFQ around what a potential contract would do for a vape company’s image.
“It’s distasteful to see Health NZ offering to launder the reputation of a vape company by offering to partner with them.
“This Government repealed the smokefree laws that would have saved 5000 lives and saved the health system billions of dollars.
“Now it seems to be running Health NZ like it’s a vape shop.”
Ethan Griffiths is a political reporter with Newstalk ZB, based in the Parliamentary Press Gallery. He joined NZME as a print journalist in 2020, previously working as an Open Justice reporter in the Bay of Plenty and Wellington, and as a general reporter in Whanganui.