November 19, 2024 • 7 mins
Pros and cons in the latest NZ Health Survey.
Hazardous drinking rates have fallen from 20.4% in 2019 to 16.6% this year, and daily smoking rates have remained steady.
However, the number of daily vapers has increased from 33,000 to 480,000 over the past eight years.
Daily vaping has also increased more quickly in younger age groups, especially those aged 15-17 and 18-24 years.
Asthma and Respiratory Foundation Chief Executive Letitia Harding told Kerre Woodham that the data they’re seeing correlates to when regulations were introduced.
She says that the regulations rolled out quite slowly, and the Ministry of Health went about it wrong.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Carrywood of Mornings podcast from news
Talk sed b as I.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Was saying, the latest New Zealand health surveys art and
it shows hazardous drinking rates have fallen from twenty point
four percent and twenty nineteen to sixteen point six percent
this year. Daily smoking rates have remained steady and they
are at where are we six point six point six percent,
(00:33):
which is you know, we can deal with that, can't we?
Here we are six point nine percent, down from sixteen
point four percent and twenty eleven. However, because there's always
a however in the news, the number of daily vapors
has increased from thirty three thousand to four hundred and
eighty thousand over the past eight years, and the worry
(00:54):
is it's increased more quickly in younger age groups, especially
those aged fifteen to seventeen and eighteen to twenty four years.
Asthma and Respiratory Foundation Chief Executive la Tisha Harding joins
me now via very good morning to you.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Good morning Kiri.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
You can sort of see that at thirty three thousand,
that would have been people using it as a smoking
cessation tool. At four hundred and eighty thousand. That's a
bad new habit, right.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Absolutely, it's a bad new habit. And I think it's
interesting if you look at the survey and drill down
on those numbers, we're actually seeing that fifteen to seventeen
your age group, a slight sort of decrease down in
both daily and regular vaping, but a higher increase in
increasing levels of vaping in that later teens to early twenties.
(01:43):
And that's what we're seeing out there, and that correlates
to the timing of when we had no regulations and
the timing of when regulations you know, coupled which came in.
So yeah, if you break those groups up, there's sort
of hopefully some good news, But there's concerning news with
the numbers in that late teen early twenties, which of
(02:05):
course is what we here you know, at university, et cetera.
Your year twelve thirteen's vaping, So I think that fits.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yeah, they really are just adult pacifiers, aren't they.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Well, you know, it's frustrating. I mean, as you know, okay,
we've been involved in space since twenty seventeen when there
were no regulations. It took until twenty twenty for them
to become R. Eighteen products, and you know, I liked
to remind people that was also under the previous government.
So you know, it took some time for regulations to
come in. And you know, with all of the workshops, educations,
(02:42):
banning on advertising out there, you know, it wasn't it
was back then that I wasn't standing in front. I
was standing in front of giant billboards on Huba Street,
you know, with advertising these wonderful, colorful, you know products,
and those are the teens that were picking them up,
and they were very high nicteen levels and you know,
becoming addicted to these products.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
And they were they were colorful, they were bright, they
were chirpy, they were easy to carry around. They didn't
have the stigma of the dirty old cigarettes and the
butts and the like. You could use them anywhere. They
were deemed harmless, fun.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Yeah, and that's you know, that was the frustrating thing.
And you know, even our own Ministry of Health has
still had this line. You know that these these are
recreational products. They are actually not indicated as a smoking
cessation product. You know, they're not FDA approved, they're not
med Safe approved as a smoking cessation product. And you
know the way I think that the Ministry went about
(03:37):
this was wrong, and unfortunately we're slowly having to put
in regulations do the education. But the good news is
I think there's a slight turn around now in that
younger group. But you know, we've now got to support
this group when there were no regulations to help get
off these very addictive products.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Are we starting to see any empirical evidence that these
products cause harm or is it anecdotal thus far?
Speaker 3 (04:05):
No, We've still we've got a lot of evidence out
there on the harms that they do cause. It does
these products do harm the lungs. We know that there's
evidence particularly around the nicotine effects on brain development and teams,
but also effects from vaping on the sur tree system
and the heart. So you know, there is that information
(04:25):
coming out there. What we don't have and what people
are saying is, oh, well they're not cancer causing like smoking.
Well that's true, but we're not going to know that
for a very very very long time, you know, decades.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
And is the popcorn lung an actual thing.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
That comes up, But it's really it's that that is
a rare occurrence and it's not it's really been sort
of taken care of now the changes and ingredients in
these products, but they cause harm in other ways without
a doubt, And you know, we've got to support our
later teams, our early twenties who are addicted to these
(05:02):
products now and get them off because you know, it
was a mistake, mistake that we let this happen with
little regulations and took so long to enforce them. And
of course there's still regulations coming out as you would
have seen potentially for next year, which will be another
step to help curb it. But I think in the
younger group we're hopefully seeing that glimmer of light that
(05:22):
there's a turnaround, But we've got to help the people
who are addicted.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
And does it cause asthma or does it exacerbate pre
existing asthma conditions?
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Yeah, it definitely does exacerbate asthma if you have got asthma.
And the other thing is that asthma it can actually
bring on asthma attacks for those as a secondary product
as well, like secondhand smoking, secondhand vaping can actually bring
on an asthma attack. So you know that's something to
definitely be aware of as well, considering you know, the
(05:55):
high rates of asthma that we do have in this country,
you know, one in eight adults. So yeah, it's definitely
something to be aware of.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Why do we have such high rates of ASPA in
this country? And because I didn't have asthma as a
child but developed it later as an adult.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Yeah, it's interesting. I was just talking to somebody the
other night when I was I was at a meeting
actually talking about vaping, and a woman's just come over
from the UK, you know, six months ago, and we
hear this a lot. She didn't have any problems with like,
you know, hay fever or asthma symptoms and came to
New Zealand and suddenly she's got the watery eyes and
it's like, you know what's going on. And the thing is,
we are a very ironically clean, green country. There is
(06:34):
a lot of pollen, you know, throwing around with our
lovely flora, and I think that that certainly has exacerbated.
There's also obviously genetic conditions. There's a lot of things
that go into the high rates of asthma we do have,
and of course there's no cure. It's around managing it well,
you know, keeping you know, your daily diaries, finding out
(06:56):
what we'll bring on an asthma attach and making sure,
especially over summer period, if we're going out hiking and things,
make sure you've got your respiratory and you know you're
inhaler on you as well.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
It's really important leave your vape behind and take care
and haal just in case. Definitely, definitely nice to talk.
Thank you so much. Letitia Harding, chief executive of the
Esma and Respiratory Foundation of New Zealand.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
For more from Kerry Wood and Mornings, listen live to
news Talks. It'd be from nine am weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Carrywood of Mornings podcast from news
Talk sed b as I.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Was saying, the latest New Zealand health surveys art and
it shows hazardous drinking rates have fallen from twenty point
four percent and twenty nineteen to sixteen point six percent
this year. Daily smoking rates have remained steady and they
are at where are we six point six point six percent,
(00:33):
which is you know, we can deal with that, can't we?
Here we are six point nine percent, down from sixteen
point four percent and twenty eleven. However, because there's always
a however in the news, the number of daily vapors
has increased from thirty three thousand to four hundred and
eighty thousand over the past eight years, and the worry
(00:54):
is it's increased more quickly in younger age groups, especially
those aged fifteen to seventeen and eighteen to twenty four years.
Asthma and Respiratory Foundation Chief Executive la Tisha Harding joins
me now via very good morning to you.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Good morning Kiri.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
You can sort of see that at thirty three thousand,
that would have been people using it as a smoking
cessation tool. At four hundred and eighty thousand. That's a
bad new habit, right.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Absolutely, it's a bad new habit. And I think it's
interesting if you look at the survey and drill down
on those numbers, we're actually seeing that fifteen to seventeen
your age group, a slight sort of decrease down in
both daily and regular vaping, but a higher increase in
increasing levels of vaping in that later teens to early twenties.
(01:43):
And that's what we're seeing out there, and that correlates
to the timing of when we had no regulations and
the timing of when regulations you know, coupled which came in.
So yeah, if you break those groups up, there's sort
of hopefully some good news, But there's concerning news with
the numbers in that late teen early twenties, which of
(02:05):
course is what we here you know, at university, et cetera.
Your year twelve thirteen's vaping, So I think that fits.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yeah, they really are just adult pacifiers, aren't they.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Well, you know, it's frustrating. I mean, as you know, okay,
we've been involved in space since twenty seventeen when there
were no regulations. It took until twenty twenty for them
to become R. Eighteen products, and you know, I liked
to remind people that was also under the previous government.
So you know, it took some time for regulations to
come in. And you know, with all of the workshops, educations,
(02:42):
banning on advertising out there, you know, it wasn't it
was back then that I wasn't standing in front. I
was standing in front of giant billboards on Huba Street,
you know, with advertising these wonderful, colorful, you know products,
and those are the teens that were picking them up,
and they were very high nicteen levels and you know,
becoming addicted to these products.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
And they were they were colorful, they were bright, they
were chirpy, they were easy to carry around. They didn't
have the stigma of the dirty old cigarettes and the
butts and the like. You could use them anywhere. They
were deemed harmless, fun.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Yeah, and that's you know, that was the frustrating thing.
And you know, even our own Ministry of Health has
still had this line. You know that these these are
recreational products. They are actually not indicated as a smoking
cessation product. You know, they're not FDA approved, they're not
med Safe approved as a smoking cessation product. And you
know the way I think that the Ministry went about
(03:37):
this was wrong, and unfortunately we're slowly having to put
in regulations do the education. But the good news is
I think there's a slight turn around now in that
younger group. But you know, we've now got to support
this group when there were no regulations to help get
off these very addictive products.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Are we starting to see any empirical evidence that these
products cause harm or is it anecdotal thus far?
Speaker 3 (04:05):
No, We've still we've got a lot of evidence out
there on the harms that they do cause. It does
these products do harm the lungs. We know that there's
evidence particularly around the nicotine effects on brain development and teams,
but also effects from vaping on the sur tree system
and the heart. So you know, there is that information
(04:25):
coming out there. What we don't have and what people
are saying is, oh, well they're not cancer causing like smoking.
Well that's true, but we're not going to know that
for a very very very long time, you know, decades.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
And is the popcorn lung an actual thing.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
That comes up, But it's really it's that that is
a rare occurrence and it's not it's really been sort
of taken care of now the changes and ingredients in
these products, but they cause harm in other ways without
a doubt, And you know, we've got to support our
later teams, our early twenties who are addicted to these
(05:02):
products now and get them off because you know, it
was a mistake, mistake that we let this happen with
little regulations and took so long to enforce them. And
of course there's still regulations coming out as you would
have seen potentially for next year, which will be another
step to help curb it. But I think in the
younger group we're hopefully seeing that glimmer of light that
(05:22):
there's a turnaround, But we've got to help the people
who are addicted.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
And does it cause asthma or does it exacerbate pre
existing asthma conditions?
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Yeah, it definitely does exacerbate asthma if you have got asthma.
And the other thing is that asthma it can actually
bring on asthma attacks for those as a secondary product
as well, like secondhand smoking, secondhand vaping can actually bring
on an asthma attack. So you know that's something to
definitely be aware of as well, considering you know, the
(05:55):
high rates of asthma that we do have in this country,
you know, one in eight adults. So yeah, it's definitely
something to be aware of.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Why do we have such high rates of ASPA in
this country? And because I didn't have asthma as a
child but developed it later as an adult.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Yeah, it's interesting. I was just talking to somebody the
other night when I was I was at a meeting
actually talking about vaping, and a woman's just come over
from the UK, you know, six months ago, and we
hear this a lot. She didn't have any problems with like,
you know, hay fever or asthma symptoms and came to
New Zealand and suddenly she's got the watery eyes and
it's like, you know what's going on. And the thing is,
we are a very ironically clean, green country. There is
(06:34):
a lot of pollen, you know, throwing around with our
lovely flora, and I think that that certainly has exacerbated.
There's also obviously genetic conditions. There's a lot of things
that go into the high rates of asthma we do have,
and of course there's no cure. It's around managing it well,
you know, keeping you know, your daily diaries, finding out
(06:56):
what we'll bring on an asthma attach and making sure,
especially over summer period, if we're going out hiking and things,
make sure you've got your respiratory and you know you're
inhaler on you as well.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
It's really important leave your vape behind and take care
and haal just in case. Definitely, definitely nice to talk.
Thank you so much. Letitia Harding, chief executive of the
Esma and Respiratory Foundation of New Zealand.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
For more from Kerry Wood and Mornings, listen live to
news Talks. It'd be from nine am weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
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