Hitting smokers harder in their pocket has prompted a surge of nearly 4000 more smokers attempting to quit, says Associate Health Minister Tariana Turia. "This is wonderful news. Ultimately the strategy is about saving lives and helping smokers to quit is a priority of this Government," says Mrs Turia.

The number of smokers registered with Quitline for help to quit smoking started to rise in April (5437), before the May price announcement and then almost doubled in May to 7925.

Demand is still higher than usual in June at 5548 compared to the 3991 average in the 12 months to March 2010. "We knew that putting up the price would be a powerful tool in reducing smoking, says Mrs Turia.

"It forces people to cut back, but more importantly it provides a strong incentive for smokers to quit and helps dissuade young people from ever starting to smoke."

Latest figures show a jump in the amount of nicotine replacement therapy being distributed rising by a third over two months to June compared to before the price increases.

Monthly funding of the nicotine replacement therapy rose to $1,581,000 for the month of June. This represents a 29.7 percent increase since April.

The money funds a month's worth of treatment for the 7925 smokers registered with Quitline that month as well as the many other smokers attempting to quit and getting access to nicotine replacement therapy through their GP.

"If a quarter of those additional 4000 smokers quit that will give back 7,500 years of life which would have been lost as a result of early deaths from smoking," says Mrs Turia.

Mrs Turia expects a further boost in numbers wanting to quit and taking up the nicotine replacement therapy in the New Year when the next round of tobacco price increases kick in.