New Zealand Nurses Organisation Smokefree Environments (Tobacco Plain Packaging) Amendment Bill Health Select Committee Inquiries to: Leanne Manson Policy Analyst Māori NZNO PO Box 2128, Wellington Phone: 04 494 6389 Email: leannem@nzno.org.nz
ABOUT NZNO The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) is the leading professional and industrial organisation for nurses in Aotearoa New Zealand, representing over 46 000 nurses, midwives, students, kaimahi hauora and health workers on a range of employmentrelated and professional issues. Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa comprises our Māori membership is the arm through which our Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership is articulated. NZNO provides leadership, research and support for professional excellence in nursing, negotiates collective employment agreements on behalf of its members and collaborates with government and other agencies throughout the health sector. Nurses are the largest group of health professionals comprising half the health workforce. The NZNO vision is Freed to care, Proud to nurse. Our members enhance the health and wellbeing of all people of Aotearoa New Zealand and are united in their professional and industrial aspirations to achieve a safe, sustainable and accessible system of public health care for all New Zealanders. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Smokefree Environments (Tobacco Plain Packaging) Amendment Bill. 2. NZNO has consulted its members and staff in the preparation of this submission, in particular policy advisers, Te Rūnanga, Regional Council and Board members and members of our specialist Colleges and Sections, in particular Nurses for Children and Young People Aotearoa and Nurse Managers New Zealand committee. 3. NZNO is an affiliate of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions/Te Kauae Kamahi ( CTU ), and NZNO notes its support for the CTU submission to this Select Committee. 4. NZNO is a proud member of the Smokefree Coalition, and we support the Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 vision and advocate for strong tobacco control measures especially through legislation and regulation (including enforcement), taxation and health promotion. 5. We support the Smokefree Nurses Aotearoa New Zealand submission and agree that the introduction of plain packs will enviably reduce palliative care nursing services for tobacco related illnesses and will essentially save New Zealanders lives. New Zealand Nurses Organisation 2 of 6
6. NZNO has advocated for the protection of public health in international agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) where investor dispute provisions and extended patents threaten the Governments ability to make decisions in the best interests of the health of all New Zealanders. 7. We note that the American Journal of Law and Medicine article i addresses the experience of Australia s plain packaging legislation, up to the date it was written and reflects on the implications for New Zealand introducing plain packaging. 8. We strongly support the immediate introduction of plain packaging legislation and believe that this is an important step towards the Government s goal for a Smokefree Aotearoa by 2025. 9. NZNO does not wish to present an oral submission. DISCUSSION Nurses and Tobacco 10. We draw your attention to NZNO previous submissions that advocate our support for the Ministry of Health plain packaging of Tobacco Products in New Zealand; and Ministry of Health banning tobacco retail displays; and our submissions in support of the Māori Affairs Select Committee (MASC) Inquiry into Tobacco industry in Aotearoa and its consequences of tobacco use on Māori. 11. As health professionals, we are well aware of the highly addictive nature of tobacco and that tobacco does not discriminate in who it kills, with over 5,000 New Zealanders dying a year (that's around 13 deaths a day) ii which is more deaths each year than road crashes, alcohol, other drugs, AIDS, suicide, murder, drowning and earthquakes iii. 12. We are aware that Māori bear the burden of tobacco related disease in New Zealand than any other ethnic group, with more than 600 dying prematurely each year iv, which impacts on their economic, social, cultural wellbeing and hinders Māori development aspirations and opportunities v. 13. Our members deal first hand with the destructive consequences of tobacco use in their everyday practice, and its effects on our patients physical health, mental, social, and economic and culturally wellbeing and its effect on their whānau. 14. As New Zealand s largest health workforce, nurses are able to provide effective smoking cessation interventions, and to be powerful advocates for tobacco free homes and communities vi. 15. We support the increase in the size and visibility of effective and credible health warning messages and images, as we believe these harmful warnings will deter New Zealand Nurses Organisation 3 of 6
smokers and provide realistic health warnings of the effects tobacco related products and toxins can inflict on the human body. 16. Nurses have opportunities to engage with family members who smoke and offer support for them to quit, to improve their health, as well as to protect the health of their families and whānau, and to build a trusting relationship to provide follow-up support vii. Advocacy for youth 17. NZNO believes that plain packaging of tobacco products will remove the tobacco industry s power to appeal and promote its products, particularly to young people or those attempting to quit. 18. We also support the denormalisation tobacco strategy which exposes tobacco as a toxic product and reframes smoking as socially unacceptable and challenges the connotation of glamour viii. 19. We strongly advocate reducing the appeal of smoking brand imagery of tobacco brands, particularly to youth and young adults (many of who are vulnerable) helping to attract new smokers and also implying wider social approval for tobacco use. Quit support 20. As health professionals, many are involved in asking clients about their smoking status as a clinical vital sign and providing brief advice and quit support to current smokers ix. 21. We draw your attention to the research from the University of Sydney and Cancer Institute New South Wales which indicated a surge in calls to Quitline after plain packaging laws was introduced x. 22. We urge the Government to ensure that access to smoking cessation services are available and have additional support when plain packaging is introduced in order to ensure those who attempt to quit are successful. International agreements 23. We wish to acknowledge Australia as the first nation in the world to implement packaging regulations on tobacco products, which is a guideline requirement for signatory nations implementing Article 11 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. 24. We urge the Government to be courageous leaders and stand up against the pressure from the Tobacco manufacturers who are lobbying to oppose this bill. The New Zealand Nurses Organisation 4 of 6
vision of a country whose tamariki will be free from exposure to tobacco and will enjoy Smokefree lives is something we are eager to support. 25. As health professionals, we believe that consumer benefits from plain packaging outweigh any threat of legal action, or of continuing with the status quo. We therefore strongly support the Governments commitment and stand to end unnecessary deaths and poor health outcomes related to tobacco use. 26. The passing of this bill will support New Zealand to meet its international obligation and commitments under the World Health Organisations Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and it will align the tobacco plain packaging legislation in Australia consistent with the Trans Tasman Mutual Recognition Agreement. 27. NZNO wishes to commend Associate Health Minster Hon Tariana Turia for championing the introduction of plain packaging legislation and her commitment to making Aotearoa New Zealand a Smokefree nation for future generations. CONCLUSION In conclusion NZNO recommends that you: Note NZNO strongly supports this bill immediate introduction and advocates to protect future generations of New Zealanders from exposure to the tobacco industry marketing; product packaging and branding of tobacco products; and Agree and support that adequate funding is made available for provision of smoking cessation services and for additional support is available when plain packaging is introduced in order to ensure those who attempt to quit are successful. Nāku noa, nā Leanne Manson Policy Analyst Māori New Zealand Nurses Organisation 5 of 6
REFERENCES i Kelsey, J. The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement: A Gold-plated Gift to the Global Tobacco Industry? American Journal of Law & Medicine, 39 (2013): 237-264. ii Smoking not our futures websites. www.notourfutures.co.nz Tobacco Facts. Accessed 11/3/14. iii Smoking not our futures websites. www.notourfutures.co.nz Tobacco Facts. Accessed 11/3/14. iv Cancer Society website. Māori and Smoking page.cantobacco.org.nz. Accessed 27/2/2014. v Māori Affairs Select Committee. 2010. Report on Inquiry into the tobacco industry in Aotearoa and the consequences of tobacco use for Māori. Māori Affairs Select Committee: Wellington. vi Auckland University Technology. 2007. Smoking and Nurses in New Zealand. ASH-KAN Aotearoa: assessment of smoking history, knowledge and attitudes of nurses in New Zealand. Auckland: ASH New Zealand. vii Auckland University Technology. 2007. Smoking and Nurses in New Zealand. ASH-KAN Aotearoa: assessment of smoking history, knowledge and attitudes of nurses in New Zealand. Auckland: ASH New Zealand. viii Hoek, J, Gendall, P Maubach, N, Edwards, R. Strong public support for plain packaging of tobacco products. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health. 2012. Vol. 36;No. 5. ix Ministry of Health. 2012. Health Targets 2012/13 website. health.govt.nz accessed 10/10/12. x Young, J, Stacey, I, Dobbins, TA, Dunlop, S, Dessaix, A, Currow, D. 2014. Association between tobacco plain packaging and Quitline Calls: a population based, interrupted time series analysis. MJA 2014:200: 29-32 doi: 10.5694/mja13.11070. New Zealand Nurses Organisation 6 of 6