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Lessons learned from a remote blood pressure lowering trial in Aotearoa
… share the lessons we learnt during the conduct of SALTS, a remote blood pressure lowering trial in Aotearoa, New … has shown that high BP and cardiovascular disease can be markedly reduced by lowering population sodium intake … together were tested against a kind of ‘placebo’, simple ‘heart healthy eating’ information that is readily …
Briefing
Where do the parties stand? Taxes to protect health and reduce inequity
… Centre contacted each of the five major parties with a set of questions about their position on five areas … experts summarise and analyse the parties’ responses. You can read more about the survey in our introductory article … home, and live a good life, and we can achieve this with simple changes to our tax and income support systems. …
Briefing
Covid-19 is finishing the year on a high: We need a vigorous coordinated response
… Summary Covid-19 is causing a large fifth pandemic wave in November-December 2023, as … The net effect is that for the year 2023 as a whole, we can expect to see approximately 1,000 deaths and 12,000 … Individuals, families, and communities need to consider simple practical ways to reduce the risk of Covid-19 …
Briefing
A public health perspective on taxing harmful products
… The New Zealand Government has set up a Tax Working Group to consider reforms of the tax system. In … principle (we call it the “tax as a tool” principle) can also be relevant, such as when a government uses tax as … and inequalities in smoking” [10]. In NZ, tobacco tax can be justified in terms of both the negative externalities …
Briefing
Current and future generations must flourish: Time for a long-term and global perspective on pandemic and other catastrophic risks
… Overview of our just published research paper calling for a well-resourced NZ Parliamentary Commissioner for … to work together for common goals. Institutional leverage can help humanity represent future generations and manage … summary of the report with a focus on long-term thinking can be read here . Long-term insights briefings Given the …
Briefing
Has the time come for a register of AI systems used by government agencies?
… Several recent reports in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) offer a roadmap for AI implementation, highlighting the citizens' … AI tools: for instance, systems like ChatGPT, which can engage in humanlike dialogues with a user, or systems … technologies continue to advance, and practical AI tools start to be deployed in large numbers, in healthcare and …
Briefing
When can COVID-19 be Declared Eliminated from NZ? New Modelling Study
… This blog details a recent modelling study we conducted. In it we estimated … its website so that the public, the media and researchers can monitor progress towards achieving the goal. NZ is a rare … 44 day period we have estimated). So when might the clock start ticking for reaching a defined elimination point in NZ? …
Briefing
Shifting all isolation/quarantine facilities to a single air force base: The need for a critical analysis
… all COVID-19 related isolation/quarantine facilities to a single air force base at Ōhakea are considered. The main … a reduction in the risk of border control failures, which can potentially involve outbreaks in NZ’s largest cities with … to switch to dedicated facilities at an air force base. To start with, the various problems with the current approach of …
Briefing
A new online calculator for estimating how much a society might spend on life-saving interventions
… conducting new cost-effectiveness analyses. Such analyses can also take many months and cost tens of thousands of … cost-effectiveness threshold. The underlying model is a simple lifetable with average population health system costs … cost-effectiveness threshold, but the user may wish to start with the WHO-CHOICE approach of the gross domestic …
Briefing
Tax reform pros & cons: A brief look from a Public Health perspective
… Dr Caroline Shaw, Dr Nhung Nghiem, Prof Tony Blakely, A/Prof Ralph Chapman Tax policies have major impacts on … be redistributive (i.e., with the wealthiest people who can afford it paying relatively more tax), and administrative … reducing the health benefits of the tax). Such uncertainty can sometimes be reduced by further searches for …
Briefing

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