The new government's plans to repeal the country’s world-leading anti-smoking measures to help pay for tax cuts will cost thousands of lives.
Nurses Society director David Wills says it is a disastrous move that takes Aotearoa New Zealand from globally-lauded in terms of public health measures to an embarrassing laughing-stock.
Clearly a retrograde step, all to help fund tax cuts and satisfy the tobacco industry and their retailers.
Smoking is accepted as a leading cause of preventable morbidity, mortality, and health inequalities in Aotearoa New Zealand, and is estimated to cause around 5,000 deaths every year.
Tobacco is a uniquely harmful consumer product in that it is responsible for the premature death of half its long-term users.
The new government's plans to repeal the country’s world-leading anti-smoking measures to help pay for tax cuts will cost thousands of lives.
Nurses Society director David Wills says it is a disastrous move that takes Aotearoa New Zealand from globally-lauded in terms of public health measures to an embarrassing laughing-stock.
Clearly a retrograde step, all to help fund tax cuts and satisfy the tobacco industry and their retailers.
Smoking is accepted as a leading cause of preventable morbidity, mortality, and health inequalities in Aotearoa New Zealand, and is estimated to cause around 5,000 deaths every year.
Tobacco is a uniquely harmful consumer product in that it is responsible for the premature death of half its long-term users.