AFN 26: New Zealand Challenges Regional Resistance to Harm Reduction

MANILA, Philippines - Rezul -- New Zealand's continuing decline in tobacco sales should prompt Asia-Pacific governments to reconsider restrictions on safer nicotine alternatives, says the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA).

The results provide a timely regional case study ahead of the Asia Forum on Nicotine 2026, or AFN26, being held in Manila and online on 16 and 17 October.



New Zealand's annual tobacco returns show the volume sold fell by more than 20 percent in 2025. Sales have more than halved over the past decade, while cigarettes sold per person have fallen by nearly 80 percent since 2010.

"New Zealand's experience challenges the claim that regulated access to vaping will undermine progress against smoking," said Nancy Loucas, Executive Coordinator of CAPHRA. "Tobacco sales continue to fall while adults who smoke retain access to a significantly less harmful alternative. New Zealand is also strengthening enforcement and measures intended to protect young people. That is a real-world result policymakers across the region should examine," Loucas said. "It shows regulated alternatives can form part of an approach combining cessation support, youth protection and enforcement."

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The Government reported that more than three-quarters of people provided with Health New Zealand-funded vaping kits achieved a verified four-week quit during the first four months of the initiative. Associate Health Minister Casey Costello also reaffirmed that vaping is significantly less harmful than smoking and can be an effective cessation tool.

Clarisse Virgino, CAPHRA's Philippines representative, said the New Zealand experience was particularly relevant to Asian countries where smoking remains widespread but access to safer alternatives is prohibited or heavily restricted.

"Too many policies in our region begin with the assumption that all nicotine products should be treated as though they carry the same risk," Virgino said. "New Zealand shows another path. Protect young people, regulate products responsibly and give adults who smoke practical alternatives. Governments do not have to copy every regulation, but they should be willing to examine the outcomes."

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CAPHRA shares the concern that illicit cigarettes may account for some of the accelerated decline in legal tobacco sales. "The illicit market strengthens the case for balanced regulation," Loucas said. "Enforcement should target illegal supply chains without making regulated alternatives harder for adults to access."

AFN26 will bring together consumers, clinicians, researchers, advocates and policymakers to examine real-world tobacco harm-reduction outcomes and develop an Asia-Pacific response grounded in regional evidence.

"With millions of people across Asia continuing to smoke, governments cannot afford to dismiss evidence from within our own region," Virgino said.