Auahi Kore
Smokefree
Traditional Māori society was smokefree. Tobacco was introduced through early British settlers and Māori soon took up the habit. Since then smoking has been particularly damaging for Māori.
Too many whānau members are dying of smoking related diseases, in fact tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in Aotearoa.
Smoking causes one in four cancer deaths in New Zealand, and increases the risk of respiratory disease, circulation problems, urinary tract and bladder disease, and diseases of the digestive tract. Being smokefree has a really big impact on health and wellness.
THE BEST WAY TO BE SMOKEFREE IS TO NOT START AT ALL – BE AUAHI KORE!
Sadly, Māori have higher smoking rates and higher rates of death and tobacco-related sickness than non-Māori, together as a whānau, let's change this.
