Plain cigarette packs could reduce Maori health gap, committee told

The health gap between Maori and non-Maori will hopefully reduce when all tobacco products have plain packaging, according to a submission to a parliamentary committee today.
Maori smoking rates were five times that of non-Maori, and the loss of whanau members prematurely from tobacco-related illness was a loss to Maoridom, said Zoe Martin-Hawke from Maori tobacco control leadership group Te Ara Ha Ora.
Ms Martin-Hawke's was one of several submissions both for and against the Smoke-free Environments (Tobacco Plain Packaging) Amendment Bill, heard before the Health Select Committee in Auckland today.
Tobacco use among Maori was one of the key health inequalities between Maori and non-Maori, Ms Martin-Hawke said.
"The New Zealand Government should be applauded for already restricting most tobacco advertising, however there is still one place left for industry to advertise and that is on tobacco packaging."

Tala Pasifika - the National Pacific Tobacco Control Service - was also in favour of the bill.
Pacific people responded to colour and vibrancy, and when Pasifika children saw the bright colours of cigarette packets, they were drawn to them, Tala Pasifika programme manager Edward Cowley told the committee.
Plain packaging decreased that attractiveness, and it would give Pasifika children one less reason to start, he said.
British American Tobacco general manager Steve Rush said the company acknowledged tobacco was harmful and supported trade restraints, however plain packaging would not work.
The bill wouldn't reduce smoking rates, but would remove intellectual property rights and breach several World Trade Organisation agreements, he said.
The Government had a number of alternatives to plain packaging, such as cracking down on home-grown tobacco, which was untaxed and carried no warnings.
Plain packaging would also create a dangerous precedent which could lead to plain packing for alcohol and soft drinks, Mr Rush said.
New Zealand Association of Convenience Stores chairman Roger Bull said in Australia, the policy had been "anything but successful" with no impact on the quantity of tobacco sold.
In fact, tobacco sales had increased by 5.9 per cent in the year following the introduction of plain packaging, Mr Bull said.
The association represents more than 750 convenience stores throughout New Zealand, and tobacco sales represented around 40 per cent of retailers' total business sales, he said.
"We are concerned that this proposal will add considerable cost to small retailers in addition to the burden imposed by the retail display ban in 2012."
Action on Smoking and Health New Zealand director Stephanie Erick said plain packaging would make tobacco less attractive and less addictive and was an important step to achieve the Government's goal of a smoke-free New Zealand by 2025.

Philippines may soon make smoking warnings graphic

A Philippine legislative committee approved a bill on Tuesday that would compel cigarette manufacturers to print illustrations of smoking hazards on cigarette packs to curb smoking in a country where tens of thousands die yearly from tobacco-related diseases.
The committee composed of both senators and congressmen passed the bill directing the Department of Health to issue 12 templates of pictures and illustrations that warn about the dangers of smoking.
The full Senate and House of Representatives are expected to formally pass the bill before it is signed into law by President Benigno Aquino III, who backed an earlier "sin tax" law that raised taxes on tobacco and alcohol products.
The illustrations, which could include pictures of cancerous lungs and throats, will occupy the lower half of the front and back panels of a cigarette pack. The current warning contains only words, saying that smoking is dangerous.
Philippine health officials said in 2012 that 17.3 million of the country's 96 million people smoke — one of Southeast Asia's highest rates — and 87,000 die per year from tobacco-related diseases.
"This is a big victory for health advocates," said Dr. Anthony Leachon, president of the Philippine College of Physicians.
Leachon said images of damaged body parts, such as before-and-after pictures of a lung ravaged by smoking, will have a greater impact, especially on non-smokers.
The bill also instructs the Department of Education to include the hazards of smoking in the school curriculum.
In recent years, more than 40 countries or jurisdictions have introduced cigarette labels with graphic anti-smoking warnings. The World Health Organization said in a survey done in countries with graphic labels that a majority of smokers noticed the warnings and more than 25 percent said the warnings led them to consider quitting.
The Philippine bill follows the passage in late 2012 of a "sin tax" law, which raised the excise tax on tobacco and alcohol products to discourage their use and raise revenues for health programs.
A recent survey commissioned by the Department of Health indicated that the law helped reduce smoking among the poor and young people, the main targets of the law.
It said that smoking prevalence among the very poor dropped from 38 percent in December 2012 to 25 percent in March this year. Smoking among people aged 18 to 24 also fell from 35 percent to 18 percent during the same period.