133 Molesworth Street
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
28 September 2021
Kia ora Mr Vaughan
Thank you for your email dated 14 September 2021, please see our responses below.
Question 1: Has the Ministry of Health used measures other than surveys to
establish the prevalence of young non-smokers taking up vaping? If so, what
other measures have been taken and what were the findings? If not, would the
Ministry of Health consider applying other measures techniques to gather this
information?
The Ministry of Health uses the New Zealand Health Survey and ASH Year 10 snapshot
data to measure young non-smokers’ prevalence of vaping. We continue to review all
available evidence.
Question 2: Has the Ministry of Health made any contact with School Principals to
obtain their views on this issue. School Principals and teachers tend to have a
pretty good handle on what's going on at ground level in their schools and their
information may be a useful addition to the self-disclosure information collected
in student surveys (which may well feature 'under-reporting')
The Ministry has met with the Post Primary Teachers’ Association and school principals
as well as the Ministry of Education to better understand their perspective as part of
work to develop a youth vaping campaign. You can find information about this here.
Question 3: Is the Ministry of Health aware of recent research linking vaping with
lung cancer and bladder cancer and how will this research be acted upon by the
Ministry of Health? We are not aware of any recent research linking vaping with lung cancer and bladder
cancer. However, if you have any information please feel free to contact us.
Yours sincerely
The Tobacco Control Team
[email address]
Ministry of Health
www.health.govt.nz