Te Arawa smoking statistics decline

Smoking statistics are declining among Te Arawa.

Smoking rates among Te Arawa Maori have dropped significantly, but there's still a lot of work to be done to get them closer to the national average, say anti-smoking groups.

According to 2013 census results Te Arawa Maori smoking rates dropped almost 10 per cent compared with 2006 results.

Between 2006 and 2013 the number of regular Te Arawa smokers dropped from 10,338 (38.5 per cent of iwi) to 8376 (29.3 per cent of iwi) with the number of Te Arawa Maori saying they had never smoked increasing from 10,014 to 12,447.

The national average for Maori smoking dropped from 37.6 per cent in 2006 to 29.3 per cent in 2013.

According to the National Maori Tobacco Control Leadership group, Ngapuhi, New Zealand's largest iwi, saw the biggest drop in numbers of regular smokers with a decrease of 9.9 per cent followed closely by Ngati Tuwharetoa and Tuhoe.

However, the national average is 15 per cent, which means Maori are smoking at just over double the rate of the general population.

Whanau Ora Iwi Leaders Forum spokeswoman Naida Glavish said as the number of regular smokers declined, the number of Maori who identified as "never smokers" or "smokefree" had increased.

"Being smokefree and tobacco free is now the norm for all iwi. A thriving iwi needs thriving descendants," she said.

But Whanau Ora Midlands Region manager Wayne Rogers said smoking rates were still very high for pregnant Maori in the Lakes District Health Board region at around 50 per cent.

"But at our rehab facility we have 15 out of the 17 people there on nicotine replacement therapy with three of them giving up completely, some of them have smoked for more than 40 years.

"But there's a long way to go to get Maori smoking rates at or below the national average," he said.