Regulators’ attempts to create a smoke-free New Zealand have allowed vaping to emerge as a public health threat which has now reached “epidemic” levels among youth, an anaesthesia conference has been told.

Taranaki-based anaesthetist Dr Trent Cutts who has been speaking at the Aotearoa NZ Anaesthesia ASM 2023 in Dunedin, says the health sector is only now recognising the emerging threat of a low-regulation environment on vaping uptake.

“It’s a push fuelled by recognition that our youth or rangatahi, in New Zealand haven’t been considered enough in the strategy to make Aotearoa smoke-free," says Dr Cutts.

“There’s now without question a youth vaping epidemic around the world but particularly in New Zealand.”

Dr Cutts highlights differences between New Zealand and Australia, which he says is employing some of the strictest vaping regulations in the world.

In particular, the two countries are taking different approaches to vaping promotion.

“In Australia, vaping nicotine liquid is by doctor’s prescription only and it’s illegal to possess any vaping product without a prescription and the messaging from Australian health authorities is heavy on the warnings.

“And then, there’s New Zealand where we’ve fully embraced vaping as a smoking cessation tool and it’s been actively promoted."

Devices are freely available, and up until recently, there have been few restrictions on flavours and nicotine strengths, says Dr Trent.

“The World Health Organization released a report that is looking at how different countries around the world are affected by vaping. Alarmingly, they singled out New Zealand as the country that shows a clear increase in the use of nicotine and non-nicotine vaping products.”

Data also shows that New Zealand teenagers are not getting their vapes from specialist vape stores but from dairies, and are predominantly using products with high nicotine concentrations.

The main clinical evidence of the health impacts of vaping shows negative effects on respiratory and cardiovascular health.

Additionally, there is an “unrecognised epidemic of trauma and burns” associated with malfunctioning vapes, mainly related to their batteries. Heating coils in vaping devices are a possible source of heavy metals and the composition of flavours is also a concern.