New Zealand: Tobacco''s Excise Tax Revenue Can Fund Cessation

Source from:  Scoop 02/15/2016

Innov8 Smokefree believes tobacco's excise tax revenue should be directed toward targeted quit-smoking support, saying personalised professional support and guidance is necessary to help addicted New Zealanders stop smoking permanently.

"It's easy to blame a pregnant woman who smokes and it's easy to believe it's her personal 'choice' whether to smoke or not," says Innov8 Smokefree Managing Director Jo Houston.

"But the reality is nicotine is so addictive, most people who smoke have no control over it. A woman may not be prepared enough to quit without the kind of support a service like ours provides. Supporting a pregnant woman to become smokefree is a specialty area and requires a highly specialised set of skills, experience and understanding."

As a member of the Smokefree Coalition, Innnov8 Smokefree advocates for a comprehensive tobacco control action plan from Government that is consumer-centric, integrating cessation into the wider health system to manage the complex needs of people who smoke.

Smokefree Coalition Executive Director Dr Prudence Stone urged the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee last week to recommend to Government that tobacco's excise tax revenue to be ring-fenced to fund the Smokefree 2025 strategy.

"Our key message was to keep raising tobacco's excise tax so prices keep going up. We know that putting the price up not only provides a strong incentive to those who smoke to try to stop, but also a strong deterrent to youngsters who can't afford to waste so much money on smokes," says Dr Stone.

"But we also know many people are so addicted, they will continue to smoke despite the hole tobacco burns in their pocket. It's their money spent on tobacco that creates the $1.2billion revenue for Government, so it is only fair government should spend that money on quality health services for cessation and tobacco related disease prevention."

Over the last two years the Ministry of Health has made proactive changes to ensure frontline services are competent, well trained and supported to work with people who need support to become smokefree. The establishment and implementation of the NZQA certificate 'Health Disability and Aged Care Competencies Level 3' delivered by the National Training Services was a significant step forward in ensuring the sector is supported to step up and meet the needs of local communities.

Houston says it's not an easy process to go through as a frontline service provider, but if it means New Zealand has a comprehensive consumer-centric and integrated approach nationally at the end of it, then it's worth it.

"Our communities deserve better than the status quo. They deserve quality clinically sound services, advocacy agents with a politically neutral agenda, and health promotion campaigns that relate to the consumer and promote local service engagement."

The Finance and Expenditure Select Committee is expected to make recommendations to Parliament on the Budget Policy Statement 2016 in late March. The Ministry of Health is expected to release Government's Tobacco Control Action Plan later this year. Enditem