World Smokefree Day is celebrated every year on May 31. The goal in Aotearoa is to get us all thinking about smoke-free lives and keep us moving towards Smokefree 2025.

If you have a story you’d like to share or you’d like to express what smokefree means to you visit www.tobaccocontrol.nz and https://www.facebook.com/tearahaora. Or become part of this important celebration by posting a video to your social media pages, explaining ‘what smokefree means to you’, with the hashtags #WSFD2020 and #celebratesmokefree.

NIHI is especially passionate about finding new ways to support people who smoke to quit. We have researched this area for almost 20 years. We recently completed RAUORA, a large single-blind, randomised, non-inferiority randomised controlled trial investigating the effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of cytisine (Tabex®) compared to varenicline (Champix®) for smoking cessation in Māori and whānau of Māori.

Led by Associate Professor Natalie Walker Rauora is a collaboration with the School of Pharmacy, University of Auckland, Brunel University London, and the Lakes District Health Board. You can find out more about the study in the journal ‘Addiction’.