Welcome to the September 2008 QuitChat

In this issue:

Quit Group is 10 years old!

The Quit Group has a birthday to celebrate this month.

It's 10 years since the three organisations which founded The Quit Group (Cancer Society, Health Sponsorship Council and Te Hotu Manawa Māori) held the training workshop prior to introducing the first Quitline in New Zealand.

We started with 20 people at a training workshop carried out over two days by the staff of Quitline in Melbourne, Australia. The new Quitline service started not long after.

We have come a long way from then, both in our training and in the size of our Quitline which dealt with almost 44,000 people wanting to quit smoking during the past year.

Helen Glasgow
Executive Director

 

Additions to the government-subsidised quitting arsenal

The new Habitrol nicotine lozenge gives quitters another effective way to help them in their quest to quit smoking. This month the lozenge becomes the third nicotine product which is subsidised heavily by the Government.

It will be available from 1 September. The cost per Quitcard is the same as for patches and gum, $5 per four week card.

 

 

Thank you

A special thank you goes out to all the participants who completed the QuitCard provider’s survey. Your recommendations and feedback have been a tremendous help in keeping the programme current and working.

The recommendations:

  • Training – To help providers revise and review current information and training practices
  • Registration Pack – To revise packaging, re-label and possibly reformat the contents
  • Programme Communications – To enhance the use of telephone and fax communications as some providers will have limited or no access to the internet
  • Refresher Courses – To ensure course content remains current and relevant with ongoing monitoring of the courses a priority.

 

New Video Diaries series features Joe Tawhara

You might remember Joe Tawhara featured in the original Video Diaries series, which showed Joe and his wife Tash’s attempt at giving up smoking. During this first attempt Joe has had a relapse.

This new series is about Joe trying again to give up. More quit attempts more often is the approach that we emphasise at the The Quit Group.

The series normalises the process of having more than one attempt at quitting and encourages smokers to give quitting another go. Using real smokers makes it easier for smokers to relate to the person on screen.

The new series goes to air this month.

Quitline caller registrations by DHB region

(July 2007 – June 2008)

DHB Clients % NZ Smokers1
Age 15+ (%)
Northland 1,687 3.8 4.4
Waitemata 4,321 9.8 10.1
Auckland 4,297 9.8 8.1
Counties Manukau 4,068 9.3 10.7
Waikato 3,920 8.9 9.1
Bay of Plenty 2,351 5.3 5.1
Lakes 1,292 2.9 3.1
Tairawhiti 388 0.9 1.5
Taranaki 1,202 2.7 2.8
Hawke's Bay 1,941 4.4 4.3
Whanganui 740 1.7 1.9
MidCentral 1,911 4.3 4.4
Wairarapa 366 0.8 1.1
Capital and Coast 2,970 6.8 5.8
Hutt Valley 1,768 4.0 3.8
Nelson Marlborough 1,060 2.4 3.1
West Coast 365 0.8 1.0
Canterbury 4,700 10.7 10.8
South Canterbury 501 1.1 1.4
Otago 2,219 5.0 4.4
Southland 1,005 2.3 3.1
Not defined 2 881 2.0 -
TOTAL 43,953 100 100

This table shows the number of Quitline client registrations from each DHB region for the period July 2007 – June 2008. A full data set of all recorded figures for The Quit Group’s services is also available on request.

DHB information and maps:

________________________________________

1. Source: 2006 Census – New Zealand smokers (Age 15+ years) population by DHB.
2. The geo-coding system was unable to code some addresses – most of these are rural delivery addresses.

 

Research briefs

Stroke risk from smoking partner – BBC News
30 July 2008

Since the introduction of smoking bans in public places across the UK, the home is now the most likely place for non-smokers to breathe second-hand smoke.

More: www.ajpm-online.net/webfiles/images/journals/amepre/AMEPRE2259.pdf

Quitting smokers gain less weight using nicotine lozenges – The Capital Times
8 August 2008

In the first head-to-head comparison of gum and lozenge smoking cessation aids, people using a lozenge gained 5.4 fewer pounds on average than those using gum, after eight weeks of treatment.

More: www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/_WMS/publications/wmj/issues/wmj_v107n5/
107no5_joosse.pdf

More evidence that 'light' smokes fool the smoker

A new survey confirms that many smokers are fooling themselves about the benefits of so-called light cigarettes.

More: www.massey.ac.nz/massey/about-us/news/article.cfm?mnarticle=more-
evidence-that-light-smokes-fool-the-smoker-29-05-2006

Tear down the wall

Tear Down the Wall, a website built by kids at Christchurch's Discovery 1 school with the aim of helping to ban Powerwalls in New Zealand. "Powerwall" is the tobacco industry's name for a large area (usually a wall) in a retail shop displaying tobacco products.

More: www.teardownthewall.org.nz/index.html.