634 Results

  • More courage needed from our political parties—reviewing our election series

    … found that the excessively narrow and short-term nature of many of the proposed policies are not up to the challenges … parties and their policies to protect the health of the people and the environment here in Aotearoa. In some areas, … long-term and catastrophic risk? Survey answer: nowhere .” How proactive will the next Government be at protecting water …
    Briefing

  • The 5000 annual deaths caused by smoking also matter

    … by the tobacco industry, that may help explain why people killed by tobacco products seem to merit so little attention. We consider how this narrative has arisen, explain why it is incorrect, … matter just as much as the lives of all other people who die prematurely. What is new in this briefing? Every year, …
    Briefing

  • Note to the Havelock North Inquiry – Think Big

    … An Independent Inquiry is now investigating the cause of the water-borne outbreak caused by Campylobacter in … in August in Havelock North, in which more than 5000 people, a third of the population, became acutely ill after … an Independent Inquiry. It certainly is alarming that so many people can become sick so quickly due to a failure in …
    Briefing

  • Health system costs in NZ: variation by sex, age & proximity to death

    … dramatically. Put another way, we spend more on middle-age people in the last year of life – which seems appropriate. … for the total NZ population An important policy issue is how health system costs will grow in the future, due to … drivers). Recent Treasury estimates – whilst ‘good’ in many aspects – did not allow for costs near death being …
    Briefing

  • Illicit tobacco trade and the Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Goal: Arguments and evidence

    … achieve the Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Goal. This blog is one of a series examining key aspects of the proposals to help … We examine the extent of the problem in NZ, consider how proposals in the Action Plan could affect the illicit … 3.9% of NZ’s total tobacco consumption. As is the case in many countries, the NZ Government does not produce its own …
    Briefing

  • Using Rapid Antigen Tests to improve COVID-19 control in Aotearoa NZ

    … Most COVID-19 testing aims to identify infected people. To date, Aotearoa NZ has relied almost exclusively on … this blog we briefly describe RATs, their performance, and how they could be used to further improve Aotearoa NZ’s … swabs to collect specimens to test for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus which causes COVID-19). These …
    Briefing

  • Human health impacts of plastic exposure – an evolving evidence base

    … from plastics. Introduction In 2019, the authors were part of an expert panel advising PM Ardern on how to address the wicked problem of plastic pollution. 1 The … from synthesis to manufacture of the final product, with many found in significant quantities in the finished …
    Briefing

  • Public health response to report on potential risk of nitrate from drinking water

    … Fonterra and MBIE, investigated the relative contributions of nitrate in our diet from water and food. The report comes … water consumed at meal times. A related issue is that many meals likely have very few antioxidants and there would … 4.5mg/L [95th percentile] nitrate-nitrogen. Assessment of people at minimal risk of nitrate contamination is not …
    Briefing

  • A preventable measles epidemic: Lessons for reforming public health in NZ

    … that can continue to improve the length and quality of people’s lives and the systems that are needed to protect us … rather than splitting and distributing capacity across many different national organisations. Multiple systems are … goal and indeed it still lacks an official action plan on how to achieve it, nine years after the goal was adopted [ 15 …
    Briefing

  • Can oral tobacco and nicotine products help people to stop smoking?

    … Summary Cabinet has approved in principle the sale of oral tobacco products (e.g. snus) and oral nicotine … New Zealand. These products could potentially help people to stop smoking by providing a source of nicotine that … conducted independently of the tobacco industry. Currently many studies of novel nicotine products have industry funding …
    Briefing

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Public Health Expert Briefing (ISSN 2816-1203)