December 30, 2014
Quitline gears up for New Years resolutions
Quitline is gearing up for a busy New Year as the 10 percent increase in tobacco tax pushed the price of an average pack of cigarettes to $20.
Add that to resolutions to lead healthier lives should mean a heavy workload for Quitline’s call centre.
Chief executive Paula Snowden says January is always Quitline’s busiest month.
"We know a price increase prompts hundreds of smokers to try to quit the addiction," she says.
"We welcome the Government’s commitment to further tobacco tax increases in 2015 and 2016 and encourage it to impose even further increases over future years – and in a way that hits the tobacco industry in its back pocket.
"At present the industry manipulates pricing to impose the lowest price increases on low-cost brands and the highest increases on more expensive brands. This allows New Zealand’s three tobacco companies to reduce the tax increase impact on their volume market which is low income smokers where prevalence is highest."
Quitline phone lines (0800 778 778) are open from 8.00am to 9.30pm on New Year’s Day.
People can also go to Quitline’s website www.quit.org.nz to access a full quit smoking support programme and order subsidised patches, gum and lozenges online.