604 Results

  • The Smokefree 2025 goal is in danger of receding – will the Ministry of Health’s ‘realignment’ get it back on track?

    … progress New Zealand’s Smokefree 2025 goal. However, will a ‘realignment’ of existing services ensure the goal is realised? In this blog, based on a recently published letter in the New Zealand Medical … supported recommendations (7), full implementation has often not occurred. For example, expenditure on mass media …
    Briefing

  • COVID-19 hospitalisation peaks in Australian States since Omicron emerged: potential relevance to Aotearoa NZ

    … at 424 people. Applying the Australian experience to NZ on a per capita basis would suggest peaks of 1,107 people in NZ … developing NZ Omicron wave. Australia is in the middle of a COVID-19 wave, predominantly fuelled by the new Omicron … in Australia on the 28 November 2021, just three days after it was first identified by South African  scientists. …
    Briefing

  • Modifying homes to prevent falls is very cost-effective: New NZ study

    … A just published modelling study by the BODE 3 Team has … and removing tripping hazards in homes) appears to be a very cost-effective health sector intervention. But even … people with previous injurious falls. In this blog we take a closer look at this intervention and consider what …
    Briefing

  • Eliminate the pandemic virus causing COVID-19 or risk an animal reservoir

    … the greater is the likelihood that it will find a host among other animal species and that these will become a reservoir capable of transmission back to humans. … leadership and with widespread consent and support from a community that rapidly grasped what was at stake and how to …
    Briefing

  • The Crisis in youth mental health: what can be done?

    … Summary Youth populations worldwide are experiencing a mental health crisis. The 2024 World Happiness report (WHR24) found a steep decline in the mental wellbeing of youth. Findings … pressing issue by successive governments, yet actions have often remained partisan. Cross-party action must be a …
    Briefing

  • Casting a long shadow: Infection drives stomach cancer inequalities in Māori and Pacific peoples

    … we discuss our recently published study that shows that infection from the bacteria Helicobacter pylori is the major … borne by Māori and Pacific peoples in NZ. We also discuss a possible next step which could be for one DHB to pilot a ‘test and treat’ screening programme that seems likely to …
    Briefing

  • Increasing whooping cough cases put pēpi at risk. What can be done about it?

    … Summary  Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) is experiencing a marked increase in whooping cough cases. Unimmunised pēpi … pertussis immunisation in every pregnancy by: establishing a centrally-governed, accountable antenatal immunisation … 15   What this briefing adds Incidence of pertussis infection is rapidly increasing, and an epidemic could occur …
    Briefing

  • The rise and rise of specialist vape stores: Time for the Government to act

    … prevalence among young people has increased rapidly. In a recent New Zealand Medical Journal letter , we pointed out … vape stores (SVRs), many of which are “stores-within-a-store”, small areas within existing retail outlets … smoke than by older people who have been unable to quit after many years of smoking. We have documented other …
    Briefing

  • Comparing two pandemics: A century apart

    … future public health emergencies.   We recently published a study 1 that explored the similarities and differences … an estimated 50-100 million lives worldwide, 2 with a significant toll in Aotearoa New Zealand (~9,000 deaths), … recorded natural disaster (see Appendix ). 3 Fast forward a century, the Covid-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 …
    Briefing

  • Limiting the size of single serve sugary drinks: New NZ study on health and cost impacts

    … There is a lot of focus on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) … of this modelling was to estimate what would happen if a serving size cap was imposed on all single serve SSBs for … in NZ to 250mls. This intervention has similarities to a restriction imposed by law in France (although this was …
    Briefing

Subscribe

Briefing CTA

Public Health Expert Briefing

Get the latest insights from the public health research community delivered straight to your inbox for free. Subscribe to stay up to date with the latest research, analysis and commentary from the Public Health Expert Briefing.

PHCC logo PHCC

The PHCC is funded by a philanthropic endowment from the Gama Foundation and hosted by the Department of Public Health, University of Otago, Wellington.

Contact

Email phcc@phcc.org.nz
43 Hanson Street, Mt Cook, 
Wellington | Te Whanganui-a-Tara
PO Box 7343, Wellington South 6242
New Zealand | Aotearoa

 

Public Health Expert Briefing (ISSN 2816-1203)