Medical and Health Research Network

Date: June 13, 2008 (Friday)
Time: 12:30 – 14:00 (sandwich lunch from 12:30 –12:45; seminar begins at 12:45)
Venue: Seminar Room 1, G/F, Laboratory Block, Faculty of Medicine Building, 21 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

While New Zealand has been a world-leader in many aspects of tobacco control, smoking prevalence is still too high at around 20% overall, and very high (50%) among Maori (indigenous New Zealanders) who comprise 15% of the nation's population. A renewed emphasis on smoking cessation as part of the national tobacco control strategy has emerged in the past year, with increased funding directed at the national telephone Quitline, strategies for making NRT more accessible and research to inform new ways of quitting and increasing cessation activity. In this presentation, Dr Bullen will outline New Zealand's cessation policy development and cessation services, describe a number of innovative cessation research projects currently underway and suggest possible opportunities for research collaborations.

Dr Chris Bullen trained in medicine and public health medicine in New Zealand, and has practiced as a clinician and public health physician in New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. He is Associate Director of the Clinical Trials Research Unit at the School of Population Health, University of Auckland, Academic Leader, Population health, for the University of Auckland's undergraduate medical programme and heads postgraduate education in International Health in the University's MPH programme. His research interests span public health education, international health, housing and health, and tobacco control, in particular smoking cessation intervention research. Dr Bullen is particularly interested in building robust evidence for affordable ways to help more smokers quit. He was a lead author on New Zealand's recently revised Smoking Cessation Guidelines, authored companion documents on cessation competencies and training, and was a co-author on the most recent Cochrane Review of Nicotine Replacement Therapy.