Praise for New Zealand’s defence of safer alternatives on road to historic smoke-free success

STOCKHOLM – International experts have applauded New Zealand’s associate minister of health for her staunch defence of safer nicotine alternatives that have brought her country to the brink of official ‘smoke-free’ status.

In a passionate parliamentary speech, Casey Costello lambasted “scaremongering” and ideological opposition to the country’s harm reduction strategies, which have seen smoking rates plummet to historic lows.

“Associate Minister Costello’s defence of evidence-based policies rather than prohibitionist measures is exactly what public health leadership should look like,” said Dr. Delon Human, leader of Smoke Free Sweden and a former secretary general of the World Medical Association.

“New Zealand has achieved in less than a decade what many countries have failed to accomplish in generations. And they’ve done it by embracing the science of harm reduction rather than succumbing to moral panic.”

The associate minister’s speech emphasised how New Zealand has moved beyond “virtue-signalling catchphrases” to deliver what she called “a clear, supported, reduced-harm pathway from smoking”.

This approach has nearly halved the country’s adult smoking rate, from 13.1% in 2011 to 6.9% in 2024, by including vaping support in quit-smoking services. It is now on course to become one of the first countries in the world to achieve smoke-status, with daily smoking rates at or below 5%.

“When Associate Minister Costello talks about cutting through the ‘scaremongering’ and ‘noise’ to focus on practical solutions, she’s describing exactly the challenge we face across much of the world,” Dr Human continued.

“Too often, public health policy is driven by ideology rather than evidence. New Zealand shows us what’s possible when we listen to front-line quit-smoking workers and focus on what actually works.”

The Swedish experience with harm reduction, primarily through snus and oral nicotine pouches, has long demonstrated that safer nicotine alternatives can dramatically reduce smoking-related harm. Sweden maintains the lowest smoking rates in the EU and correspondingly low rates of smoking-related disease. New Zealand has now adapted the Swedish model with modern vaping technology.

Associate Minister Costello’s recognition that there are “long-term, addicted smokers who need to be given the tools and support they need to quit” reflects a compassionate, reality-based approach to tobacco policy that prioritises helping people rather than punishing them.

“Associate Minister Costello deserves recognition for refusing to ‘recoil from the fight’ against tobacco prohibitionists who would deny smokers access to life-saving alternatives,” Dr. Human added. “Her commitment to evidence-based policy over populist gestures represents the kind of courageous leadership that saves lives.”

As noted by global health practitioner Professor Robert Beaglehole, whom Associate Minister Costello quoted extensively, New Zealand is now “leading the world in reducing smoking” and inspiring others to follow.

The country’s success story demonstrates that when policymakers embrace harm reduction principles and resist scaremongering tactics, extraordinary progress becomes possible.

Smoke Free Sweden calls on policymakers worldwide to study New Zealand’s success and consider how similar harm reduction approaches could accelerate progress toward smoke-free goals across the continent.