bCasts

On New Years Eve, the government announced a ‘free vape kit’ initiative to combat tobacco usage rates, as a part of Smokefree 2025 plans.

Associate Health Minister, Casey Costello, says those involved with the initiative will be provided with a vape device and a one month’s supply of nicotine pods each month for a three month period, with additional support from an anti-smoking service.

Costello says vaping has had a "key role," in lowering smoking rates, and that the government is in support of this initiative, as she says that "vaping is far less harmful than smoking cigarettes."

However, the advocacy group for doctors working in general practice; General Practitioners Aotearoa, have expressed concerns about this vaping kit, as they say the government is funding this initiative without strong scientific evidence to back up their claims.

The group referred to a study of individuals undergoing a 'vape to quit' programme, with findings showing that only 16% of participants fully quit both smoking and vaping.

News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to the Chair of General Practitioners Aotearoa, Dr Buzz Burrell, about the ‘free vape kit’ initiative, and using vaping as a cessation tool for tobacco usage, as well as whether this move takes into account communities disproportionately affected by nicotine consumption.

They started off by asking him about how much evidence there is that vaping is an adequate method to limit one’s tobacco addiction.

This podcast has been edited to take out the claim "…so if you inhale nicotine through a vape you've got an equal chance of developing lung cancer. So you're not reducing the lung cancer risk at all," as well as mentions of 'vape lung' (EVALI) regarding consuming nicotine from vapes. Despite ongoing research into these claims, there is not currently adequate data to back these points.

Featuring: 
Staying: Leaving Records Aid to Artists Impacted by the Los Angeles Wildfires by Various Artists as the Play It Out album for the week 

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Earlier this week, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced a major reshuffling of ministerial portfolios within the National party. 

Among the most notable portfolio changes was handing over Dr Shane Reti’s role as minister of health to Transport Minister Simeon Brown and the appointment of Nicola Willis as Minister of the newly created portfolio of Minister of Economic Growth, a title formerly known as the Minister of Economic Development.

The cabinet reshuffle has led to concerns about the fate of Health NZ and Aotearoa’s healthcare sector, noting that Shane Reti had over 20 years of experience working in medicine, whereas Simeon Brown has none. 

The reshuffle also comes shortly after a recent poll by the Taxpayers Union showed that National’s approval rating had fallen below 30%, the lowest rating they’ve received while in government since 1999.

Oto spoke with Michael Swanson, a PHD candidate in New Zealand politics at the University of Otago, to discuss why National made the decision to shuffle their portfolios at this point in time and the impacts of the portfolio changes for the wider economy, particulary for the healthcare system and constituents in the South Island.

One of Trump’s first measures after taking office was to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement.

The Paris Agreement (also called the Paris Accords or Paris Climate Accords) is an international treaty on climate change that requires it’s signatories to set their own emissions reductions goals and to report regularly on their progress. 

Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement makes the United States one of only four countries in the entire world who are not signatories to the Paris Agreement, with the other three non-signatories being Iran, Libya and Yemen.

Oto spoke to Amanda Larsson from Greenpeace Aotearoa to discuss the implications of Trump’s exit from the Paris agreement, and how Aotearoa should adjust its own climate targets in response.