FREQUENTLY-ASKED QUESTIONSHow did World Smokefree Day start internationally? World Smokefree Day (called World No Tobacco Day internationally) is sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO). It was created by a World Health Assembly resolution in 1988, and is one of only four UN-agency related world days. How can I become involved in World Smokefree Day? Anyone with an involvement or interest in tobacco control is welcome to become part of World Smokefree Day in New Zealand. Contact us for further information. How are all the tobacco control groups that take part in World Smokefree Day kept up-to-date with event information and campaign resources? The World Smokefree Day Group sends out a number of communications to individuals and organisations with an interest in tobacco control during the year. These communications are sent to everyone on the Health Sponsorship Council’s Smokefree database (over 600 individuals). If you would like to be added to the database, please contact the HSC. People receiving the initial letter are asked to form Regional Smokefree Teams to help ensure that the events in each region support and complement each other. A regional team might be made up of representatives from the local offices of the Cancer Society and Asthma and Respiratory Foundation, the local public health unit’s Smokefree co-ordinator and SIDS co-ordinator, Auaki Kore workers, Plunket, and local smoking cessation practitioners. This approach is being taken again in 2008, and detailed information about World Smokefree Day will be sent to the contact nominated by each regional team. Can I get free resources for my area? A number of World Smokefree Day resources are developed each year, and many of these are available at no charge, or at low cost. However, the World Smokefree Day budget is limited, and we will never be able to provide everyone with unlimited resources – much as we would like to! Most years a pack of World Smokefree Day resources is sent to each regional team (there are usually at least 50 teams). As each pack includes a number of free resources, we are only able to send one pack to each regional team. Further resources can be purchased at cost price. How did a nationally co-ordinated World Smokefree Day in New Zealand begin? Some organisations had been promoting World Smokefree Day in New Zealand since the early 1990s. However, these organisations usually had limited budgets, and there was no coordination between them. This meant that the World Smokefree Day message coming out of one region of New Zealand could be completely different from the message coming out of another region, with the messages from national groups different again. All these messages, and the small, separate budgets of the organisations, meant that World Smokefree Day had little public impact. To give World Smokefree Day messages consistency and greater impact, the Cancer Society of New Zealand, the Ministry of Health and the Health Sponsorship Council formed a group to co-ordinate 1998 World Smokefree Day activities for those who wished to be involved. One theme was agreed on – Children and tobacco, growing up Smokefree/Auahi Kore – and the organisations pooled their budgets. This national coordination worked well and has continued, with the number of individuals and organisations involved in World Smokefree Day increasing every year. There are now over 500 individuals on the Health Sponsorship Council’s World Smokefree Day list. In 2000 the event received separate funding from the Ministry of Health, so no longer had to rely solely on the amount that was able to be contributed by the different organisations.By 2000, Te Hotu Manawa Māori, The Quit Group, National Heart Foundation, Smokefree Coalition and ATAK (Māori Smokefree Coalition) had joined the group; followed by the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation in 2003; and Smokefree Pacifika Action Network (SPAN) and Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) for World Smokefree Day 2004. Today, the event continues to be coordinated by the World Smokefree Day Group, and is facilitated by Health Sponsorship Council which holds the budget. Why is World Smokefree Day an important event? In New Zealand around 4700 people die each year because of direct tobacco use and around 350 because of exposure to second-hand smoke. As tobacco deaths often happen slowly, and without the media coverage that might be associated with a road crash or homicide, it can be easy for the public to underestimate the harms caused by smoking. In fact, smoking claims more lives than HIV, tuberculosis, motor vehicle crashes, suicide and homicides combined. World Smokefree Day provides a platform to promote the Smokefree/Auahi Kore message, and to remind people of the thousands of preventable deaths that occur every year. Which countries participate in World Smokefree Day? All countries are encouraged to participate in World Smokefree Day. Some of the most visible events in recent years have taken place in:
How are the yearly themes selected? The World Health Organization selects a theme every year. Sometimes these themes are used in New Zealand, while in other years a different theme that supports current national tobacco control priorities is chosen. For example, the WHO theme for 2004 was ‘Tobacco and Poverty’, however New Zealand continued to promote a second-hand smoke theme in support of the smokefree workplaces legislation that was to be implemented on 10 December that year. The yearly themes used in New Zealand are selected after consultation with World Smokefree Day Group members and through discussions with the tobacco control sector. My organisation wants to join in, but we don’t know where to start First you need to contact us so we can link you up with your Regional Smokefree Team. They may already have a number of ideas for promoting the day. You might also like to check out events from previous World Smokefree Days.
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