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National | Health

Big hopes for quit-smoking campaign, Stoptober

Smoking is still the biggest cause of premature death in New Zealand, taking 5,000 lives each year.

It's an addiction more prevalent among Māori and Pacific communities, and last night in Māngere was the launch of Kickstart Stoptober, to tackle and encourage smokers to stub out their cigarettes and embark on New Zealand's first national quit-smoking month.

During the month of October, Stoptober, a provider funded under the Pathway to Smokefree 2025 Innovation Fund, is targeting the country's 463,000 smokers.

The new campaign follows on the back of the United Kingdom Stoptober campaign which has been running for two years, and last year saw nearly 250,000 people quit smoking.

The NZ advertisements are well-known with the ugly packaging pictures designed to help convince smokers to quit their habit.

One former smoker, now avid advocate pledging behind the campaign is well-known NZ musician and producer, Che Fu.

Social media, radio, television and fun events will be happening throughout the country during this month, as well as other helpful resources including mobile app support, text support and email support.

For more details, check out the official NZ Stoptober website here.