Foundation calls for action on cigarette displays

16 October 2007

Asthma Foundation calls for action on cigarette displays

Backing the Cancer Society’s call for a ban on the display of tobacco products for sale, the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation said today that an estimated 170 000 New Zealanders live with respiratory problems due to smoking.

Decisive action is required: displaying tobacco products should be banned.

The Cancer Society stated that in a survey it had commissioned, more than two-thirds of the 750 respondents supported a ban on displaying tobacco products at retail outlets. Having cigarettes sold from under the counter won’t stop all smoking, but would help those who are trying to quit, the Society said.

Nearly half of New Zealand smokers tried to quit last year, but many find it hard to stop.

The Foundation strongly supports the Cancer Society’s stance on making tobacco products less tempting and continuing to “denormalize” the presence of substances that pose such a serious health risk.

Emphysema, chronic bronchitis and similar conditions affect about one in seven New Zealanders aged over 45. A huge 85 percent of these conditions relate to smoking.

“A lot of older people grew up in a time when the risks associated with smoking were not fully understood, or at least publicized, but we have the knowledge and awareness now to really decrease the prevalence of respiratory conditions among New Zealanders. We owe it to ourselves, our children and our grandchildren to get real on this,” says Foundation Executive Director, Jane Patterson.

“Let’s ban the display of tobacco products. The displays are a marketing tool and we really need fewer people buying cigarettes.”

Later this month the Cancer Society’s Health Promotion Advisor Belinda Hughes will present the Society’s case for banning the display of tobacco products in shops to Parliament’s Health Select Committee. The Committee is reviewing the issue after a 20,000 strong petition co-ordinated by the Society was presented to Parliament in July.

ENDS

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