- 05.01.2023
- News
New Zealand again at the forefront of tobacco control, Switzerland remains far behind
New Zealand last December passed into law a unique plan to phase out tobacco smoking and reach a smoke-free generation.
The three main innovations brought in by the law are reducing the amount of nicotine that is allowed in smoked tobacco products, decreasing the numbers of retailers that sell tobacco and making sure tobacco isn’t sold at all to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009. While New Zealand is quickly moving ahead, Switzerland’s “developments” in tobacco control are looking ridiculously backwards.
Three key measures to achieve a smoke-free New Zealand by 2025
A central measure of the NZ law is adapting the minimum age for buying cigarettes which will keep going up and up. In theory, somebody trying to buy a pack of cigarettes 50 years from now would need ID to show they were at least 63 years old. But health authorities hope smoking will fade away well before then. They have a stated goal of making New Zealand smoke-free by 2025.
Furthermore, the new law also reduces the number of retailers allowed to sell tobacco from about 6,000 to 600 and decreases the amount of nicotine allowed in tobacco that is smoked. The New Zealand health system will save billions of dollars from not needing to treat illnesses caused by smoking, such as cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and amputations. Moreover, the law will create generational change and leave a legacy of better health for youth.
New Zealand remains a pioneer in their long-term public health approach, having reached a low smoking prevalence of 10.9% in 2020 due to a range of effective tobacco control measures.
While others move forward, Swiss public health remains under the influence of the tobacco industry
Currently, Switzerland tobacco control policies remain as one of the worst in Europe, as shown by the recent Tobacco Control Scale, where Switzerland holds the second last place, just ahead of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Particularly poor marks were given for tobacco advertising restrictions: No other country in the rating has performed so poorly in this category in recent years as Switzerland has.
There remains an urgent need to adopt the measures that have already proven effective in New Zealand as well as in other countries: Ban all forms of advertising, introduce plain packaging, effectively ban access to all nicotine-containing products for people under 18, massively increase prices through effective taxation, and effectively ban sales to minors.
On 13 February 2022, the Swiss populace accepted the popular initiative “Enfants sans tabac” (children without tobacco), whose aim is to protect children from being exposed to the pervasive advertisement schemes of the tobacco industry. A proposal to modify the new Law on tobacco products (which should enter into force on 1 January, 2024) should be discussed soon in the Swiss Parliament, in order to respect the will expressed by the Swiss people. Unfortunately, politicians close to tobacco lobby are already trying to do as much as possible to water it down. New Zealand is really prioritising the protection of its youth; Switzerland is not!
Sources:
https://www.smokefree.org.nz/smoking-its-effects/facts-figures