Disposable vapes will be banned in New Zealand from August. Photo: 123rf
By Aui'a Vaimaila Leatinu'u, PMN
Across the New Zealand, more high school students are vape-free, but Pacific youth continue to struggle disproportionately with quitting, particularly older teens.
The 2024 ARFNZ/SPANZ/NZAIMS Vaping in New Zealand Youth Survey by the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation (ARF) studied more than 11,300 Year 7 to 13 students.
The survey found that overall vaping rates among children in Years 9 to 13 have significantly dropped from 26.6 percent in 2021 to 12.2 percent in 2023.
Twenty-six percent of Year 13 students also reported vaping in the last seven days, a figure that had doubled from 12.6 percent two years earlier.
Speaking to William Terite on Pacific Mornings, Asthma and Respiratory Foundation chief executive Letitia Harding said older students, especially Pacific youth, "are falling through the cracks".
"[Compared to] New Zealand Europeans, Māori are twice as likely to have vaped in the last seven days," she said.
"But it's still very high for Sāmoans at 16 percent - that was the second largest group."
Harding said targeted education campaigns were needed for these groups.
'Support our older students to quit vaping'
Many students reported vaping high to very high nicotine concentrations, with 47 percent feeling addicted and 48 per cent acknowledging adverse health effects.
In November 2020, New Zealand implemented R18 restrictions on selling nicotine-containing vaping products as part of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act.
Despite this, 24.6 percent of underage students still could buy them directly from retailers, including vape stores, dairies, and service stations.
"These younger students were able to buy very high nicotine-containing vapes, up to almost 55 milligrammes.
"Those are the ones that appear to have become addicted to the nicotine in these vapes, and so that's a concern.
"We need to keep up our efforts around education for our younger group, but also support our older students to quit vaping."
Smoking down, vaping up
The concerning rates among Pacific youth vaping also coincided with health disparities highlighted in the Ministry of Health's Annual Health Survey.
The survey's analysis of smoking and vaping trends found that Pacific adults' daily vaping prevalence increased to 21.5 percent in 2023/24, up from 18.7 percent in 2022/23 and 16 percent in 2021/22.
However, Pacific adults had reduced their daily smoking from 22.6 percent in 2011/12 to 12.3 percent in 2023/24.
Despite this, the Annual Health Survey writers told RNZ that it is unlikely New Zealand will reach its 2025 smoke-free goal of reducing daily smoking prevalence below 5 per cent.
"Unless there are dramatic falls in smoking prevalence among Māori, Pacific peoples, and people living in the most deprived areas," they said.
Dr Aumea Herman, chief clinical advisor of Pacific Health at the Ministry of Health, also held a bittersweet perspective on the contrasting Pacific smoking rates.
"Good things are happening, for example, our tobacco smoking rates are coming down.
"On the other hand, our vaping rates are going up amongst our young children, and that's a major concern for us."
-This article was first published by PMN