104 Results

  • Covid-19 is finishing the year on a high: We need a vigorous coordinated response

    … causing a large fifth pandemic wave in November-December 2023, as indicated by results of wastewater testing and hospitalisations. The net effect is that for the year 2023 as a whole, we can expect to see approximately 1,000 … be thousands of people disabled from long Covid during 2023. Drivers of these large waves of infection are likely to …
    Briefing

  • Smoking and vaping among 14 to 15 year olds: Government action urgently needed

    … daily and that have never smoked doubled between 2019 and 2023. These results suggest vaping is not displacing smoking, … adolescents who have never smoked (4.6% vaped daily in 2023) and compares it to vaping among adolescents who smoke daily (87.5% vaped daily in 2023). However, this comparison downplays daily vaping among …
    Briefing

  • Aotearoa New Zealand's fourth wave of Covid-19 and why we should care

    … Research (ESR).   Covid-19 cases – Self-reported cases in 2023 reached their lowest 7-day moving average of 1132 cases per day on 11 February 2023. The numbers subsequently rose reaching a moving average … past eight weeks, from 149 for the week ending 19 February 2023 to 368 for the week ending 16 April 2023. Deaths – …
    Briefing

  • Urgent action needed to prevent a measles epidemic in Aotearoa New Zealand

    … incidence of notified and hospitalised cases, 1980 to 2023. Source: ESR ( notifications ) and Ministry of Health/Te … is currently at its lowest level since 2009 (Figure 2). In 2023 coverage at two years was 83% overall, but only 69% for … at 2 years of age, by ethnic group, by quarter 2010 to 2023.   Figure 3.  Immunisation coverage at 2 years of age, …
    Briefing

  • Covid-19 vaccines still protect us: How do we get the best out of them?

    … studies show protection – both earlier (2022) and later (2023-24) in the Omicron wave – against: infection and … obtained from wastewater specimens by week, July 2023 to July 2024   Source: ESR Wastewater testing dashboard … 2021 onwards and separated into earlier (2022) and later (2023-24) in the Omicron-dominant period. Consequently, the …
    Briefing

  • New report shows how regional plans could transform freshwater quality

    … Lakes lessons-learnt report (Ministry for the Environment, 2023) . The Report is an investigation into the ongoing … water intermittently undrinkable (Prickett et al., 2023). These public health risks are partly attributable to … and implementation of regional plans (Prickett et al., 2023). This Report should be high priority reading for …
    Briefing

  • Mind the gap: Associate Health Minister’s actions conflict with Ministry advice, align with tobacco industry lobbying

    … what had motivated the SERPA Act repeal. From December 2023, the Ministry of Health (MOH) provided detailed advice … regime. Dr Diana Sarfati, Dr Andrew Old (06 December 2023).  Summary 5. Given the inequitable impact smoking has … prevention. Dr Diana Sarfati, Dr Andrew Old (08 December 2023). 53. As a result of decades of tobacco control action, …
    Briefing

  • Budget 2023 goes a long way to improving housing and wellbeing

    … Summary Several key announcements in the 2023 Budget, announced this week, have implications for … and builders across the country. The Government’s 2023 Wellbeing Budget has now taken an even more long-sighted … who have been excluded in the past, as well as Iwi. In the 2023 Budget, there is a hefty $71 billion budget allocation …
    Briefing

  • Comparing two pandemics: A century apart

    … population) and during the Covid-19 pandemic up to 2023 (all ethnic groups), by age and sex* Lessons from … coverage and delays in reporting. Data extracted 3 January 2023. ** Figure 2 details: The 1918–19 pandemic mortality … data cover the period of January 2020–December 31, 2023. Mortality data were provided by the New Zealand …
    Briefing

  • A Smokefree Aotearoa – could taking the nicotine out of smoked tobacco products help us get there?

    … law passed in 2022 and was implemented from 1 March 2023 Smoking and vaping prevalence trends (BAU) Recent … continued to 2025 Impact of VLNC policy on quitting From 2023, 33% of people who smoke would quit each year and the … home-grown tobacco) Impact of VLNC policy on vaping From 2023, of those who quit smoking, half would quit all nicotine …
    Briefing

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Public Health Expert Briefing (ISSN 2816-1203)