New Zealand introduced Bill on Tobacco Endgame

Tags: International News

New Zealand's parliament recently introduced the Smoke-Free Environment and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill to fulfil its plan to be smoke-free by the year 2025.

About New Zealand Bill on Tobacco Endgame

• The 'tobacco endgame' refers to a policy approach that focuses on ending tobacco-related disease with the aim of a 'tobacco-free future'.

• The bill calls for three strategies to significantly reduce or eliminate smoking.

• If implemented, the bill would be the first law in the world to prevent the next generation from buying cigarettes legally.

Proposed Strategies

• To significantly reduce the amount of nicotine (known as "denicotinization" or "very low nicotine cigarettes - VLNC") in tobacco so as not to become addictive.

• 90% to 95% reduction in the number of shops selling tobacco.

• Selling tobacco to people born on or after January 1, 2009, is illegal (thus making the "smoke-free generation").

Current status of tobacco use

Global

• One in four people around the world use tobacco

• Cigarette smoking is the most common form of tobacco use worldwide.

• Other tobacco products include waterpipe tobacco, various smokeless tobacco products, cigars, cigarillos, roll-your-own tobacco, pipe tobacco, bidis and kreteks.

• According to the World Health Organisation, the tobacco epidemic is one of the world's biggest public health threats to date, killing more than 8 million people every year.

Status in india

• According to the National Family Health Survey-5 (Year 2019-21), 38% of men and 9% of women above the age of 15 use tobacco products.

• Women (19%) and men (51%) belonging to Scheduled Tribes are more likely to use tobacco than those belonging to any other caste/tribe group.

• Among men as well as women, tobacco consumption is higher in rural areas (43 percent for men and 11 percent for women) than in urban areas.

• It is one of the leading causes of death and disease in India and causes about 1.35 million deaths every year.

• India is also the second largest consumer and producer of tobacco.