Progress made in smoking control

Press, 11 June 1982, Page 10

Progress made in smoking control

An article in the April issue of the “British Medical Journal” about smoking and drinking habits in New Zealand did not present a balanced picture of what had been achieved to control smoking, said the medical director of the National Heart Foundation. Dr David Hay. Parts of Dr Smith's article appeared in "The Press" of June 4. In a published letter to the journal. Dr Hay said that he was the first to agree with the author of the article. Dr Richard Smith, the journal’s assistant editor, that New Zealand should speed up a shift in health resources to preventive measures. But compared with most European countries. New Zealand had made achievements in smoking control, Dr Hay said. "The National Heart Foundation and the Cancer Society have taken a much more active role in promoting non-smoking than their counterparts in Britain," he said. Dr Hay said that he wel-

corned the formation of a new pressure group called Action on Smoking and Health, which was an antismoking lobby. It would be interesting to see the effects of a new approach because "we have come so far without a pressure group." Dr Hay said. “Billboard and cinema advertising of cigarettes is not permitted, and newsprint advertisements are restricted in size and content and must contain a health-warning statement," he said. “Most local authorities do not allow smoking on buses, and 70 per cent of aircraft seats are allocated for nonsmoking passengers.” In response to Dr Smith’s comment that New Zealand schoolchildren could now legally buy cigarettes if they wanted to, Dr Hay said that tobacco was now classed under the Toxic Substances Act. That would, it was hoped, counter the loss of legislation concerning juvenile smoking. It was possible under the Toxic Substances Act to limit the sale of cigarettes to minors.

Dr Hay said that New Zealand was the first and only country in the world to include a question on smoking habits in its population census. “Between the last two censuses, in 1976 and 1981, the percentage of male cigar-ette-smokers has dropped from 40 per cent to 35 per cent, and females from 32 per cent to 29 per cent,” he said. “This prevalence of smoking is among the lowest in the Western world, and certainly less than in the United Kingdom. Norway. and Sweden, whose smoking control programmes attract more publicity.”. Dr Hay said that there were still' big smoking problems to be tackled in New Zealand. “The extremely high smoking by Maoris is of grave concern, and it is also clear from the census that the smoking-or-health message has not reached certain so-cio-economic and educational groups or. if it has. they have failed to heed it,” he said.