639 Results

  • 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

  • Why don’t we make rental housing safer?

    … arrangements that favour the framing of home injury as a product of individual behaviour and culpability rather than … do exist, remain ineffectively enforced. The home can be a site of multiple hazards leading to the risk of falls, … to be injured 7 . Injury in the home is common and is a risk borne unequally at a high cost. It is also a problem …
    Briefing

  • How taking an evidence-informed approach can be used to prioritise interventions: The example of cardiovascular disease

    … that have been studied for NZ. For example, we show a combined fruit and vegetable subsidy plus a sugar tax produces estimated lifetime savings of 894,000 … perspective – given that government decision-making is often driven by ideological factors or for short-term …
    Briefing

  • Is youth vaping a problem in New Zealand?

    … delivery systems (ENDS) deliver nicotine to smokers using a hand-to-mouth process that parallels smoking. Because ENDS … devices are endorsed as lifestyle consumer products , often with little reference to smoking cessation. 22 … vaping is associated with smoking initiation and uptake, after allowing for factors that may represent a common …
    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)