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SUMMARY
Northland carries a high burden of disease from smoking. Smoking related hospitalisations
in Northland are 1.5 times higher than the national rate. It is estimated that smoking plays a
role in nearly half of all Maori deaths in Northland and is a major factor in the huge difference
of 14.9 years in life expectancy between Maori and non-Maori.
The loss of health and premature loss of life related to tobacco has a significant adverse
impact on the retention of cultural knowledge, language, social well-being, and economic
prosperity for Northland Maori.
Our main recommendation is for the sale of tobacco to be stopped by 2020. This one action
is likely to have a far larger and more immediate impact on reducing health inequalities and
improving Maori health than any other single health intervention.
INTRODUCTION
Tobacco is not a Māori tradition. Prior to European/Pākehā contact there was no smoking of
tobacco or any other substances by Māori. Tobacco was introduced to Aotearoa/New
Zealand in 1769 by early Pākehā explorers and traders, and was used as a currency and
article of trade. The combination of the addictiveness of tobacco, the novelty of tobacco, and
its early demonstration of use by Europeans made tobacco a desirable object for trade. Its
use quickly increased among Māori. 1
Today tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in New Zealand, accounting for
around 4,300 to 4,700 deaths per year. 2 3 4 Over 600 of those deaths are Māori who die
prematurely every year. 5 When second-hand smoke deaths are included, this estimate
6 7
increases to around 5,000 deaths per year.
In comparison there are:
· 1064 alcohol related deaths (2000) 8
· 619 deaths from breast cancer (2006) 9
· 294 deaths as a result of traffic accidents (2008) 10
· 116 people died as a result of an accident at work (2006/07) 11
1 Gifford H, Bradbrook S. Recent actions by Maori politicians and health advocates for a tobacco free Aotearoa, a brief review. Wellington: Whakauae
Research Services. Te Reo Marama. Health Promotion and Public Health Policy Research Unit, 2009.
2 Peto, R., Lopez, A.D., Boreham, J., and Thun, M. (2006). Mortality from smoking in developed countries 1950-2000. Second edition.
www.ctsu.ox.ac.uk/~tobacco/, retrieved 24 June 2009.
3 Public Health Intelligence. 2002. Tobacco Facts May 2002 (Public Health Intelligence Occasional Report No 2). Wellington: Ministry of Health.
4 Peto, R. and Lopez, A. 1994. Mortality from Smoking in Developed Countries 1950-2000: Indirect estimates from national vital statistics. New York:
Oxford University Press.
5 Te Reo Mārama website: www.tereomarama.co.nz. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
6 Ministry of Health (2004). Looking upstream: Causes of death cross-classified by risk and condition, New Zealand 1997. Wellington: Ministry of
Health.
7 Tobias, M. and Turley, M. (2005). Causes of death classified by risk and condition, New Zealand 1997. Australian and New Zealand Journal of
Public Health, 29, 5-12.
8 ALAC, Burden of Death, Disease and Disability Due to Alcohol in New Zealand. 2000.
9 NZ Breast Cancer Foundation, 2009. www.nzbcf.org.nz/index.php/about-breast-cancer/information-centre
10 Land Transport Agency, Road Death Statistics, 2009. www.ltsa.govt.nz/research/toll.html
11 Statistics NZ,
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