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Nicotine pouches for smoking cessation

Year:
2025
Duration:
39 months
Approved budget:
$1,437,789.00
Researchers:
Professor Christopher Bullen
,
Professor Natalie Walker
,
Associate Professor George Laking
,
Professor Jamie Brown
,
Professor Lion Shahab
,
Ms Varsha Parag
Host:
The University of Auckland
Health issue:
Addiction (alcohol/drugs/gambling/smoking)
Proposal type:
Project
Lay summary
Smoking is a leading cause of death and disability in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). Stopping smoking leads to health benefits for individuals, their whānau (family) and the community, and is extremely cost-effective. Some reduced harm nicotine products (e.g. nicotine patches, gum, lozenges, and e-cigarettes) are endorsed by the NZ government to help people quit smoking, based on high-quality trials evidence. The government has signalled they intend to further support people to quit smoking by permitting oral nicotine pouches to be sold in NZ. However, there are no published trials on the effectiveness of nicotine pouches for quitting smoking. We will do a community-based trial to investigate the effectiveness, safety, and acceptability of nicotine pouches plus text messaging support at helping people quit smoking, compared with text messaging support alone.