Science Media Centre

Public health experts say we are falling short of our Smokefree 2025 goal and unless there is urgent action by Government, we won’t be Smokefree until 2065.   Tobacco control and health researchers from the University of Otago and Hāpai te Hauora launched a new action plan at Parliament this morning to guide New Zealand to […]

The Ministry of Health is taking tobacco giant Philip Morris International to court over illegally importing the tobacco sticks used in their electronic device (iQOS) which heats, rather than burns, tobacco.  While the electronic device itself isn’t illegal, the tobacco sticks — known as HEETS — are. The Smoke-Free Environment Act prohibits advertising, importing and distributing “any […]

Using information from the 2013 Census, researchers say that smoking is declining at an ever-increasing rate. A study, published today in the New Zealand Medical Journal, compared smoking prevalence in 2013 with the previous census in 2006. In 2013, around on in seven New Zealand adults (15 years and older) reported they were regular smokers […]

University of Otago public health researchers are calling on policy makers to develop stronger regulation of loose tobacco to curb the growing popularity of the cheaper option among New Zealand’s young adults. Their research, published in Tobacco Control, found young adults who used roll-your-own tobacco associated the product with being more natural and less harmful. ASPIRE2025 co-director […]