666 Results

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

    … Most other countries have not pursued this goal and are ignoring the opportunity even now. SARS-CoV-2 is not … th February 2020. With strong and heeded scientific input 1-4 under effective leadership and with widespread consent … have largely ignored the elimination option and chosen – or stumbled into – other approaches. The nature of this …
    Briefing

  • Tax policy as a key health determinant: Reform for the Covid-19 reset

    … societal services that are critical for the prevention and management of Covid-19. Tax is the way we all share our … have become less progressive than they were in the 1980s. 1 As a flat tax, GST takes a bigger chunk out of the incomes … also the extent to which inequalities may be addressed – or conversely exacerbated. Tax is therefore a health …
    Briefing

  • The need for a robust scientific definition for the elimination of COVID-19 from New Zealand

    … objectively verifiable, with appropriate levels of testing and surveillance systems in place. It should ideally be … incidence of infection caused by a specific agent…” [1]. The global eradication of smallpox was declared in the … [2]. Maintaining the elimination of a disease in a country or region requires continued preventive measures. NZ has …
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  • What does the novel coronavirus epidemic mean for New Zealand?

    … blog post reproduces a Sunday Star Times opinion piece (26/1/2020) by this author on the current coronavirus situation. … might do in response to protect both its own citizens and people living in those Pacific Island nations where the … in a highly connected world with most countries just one or two flights away from China. If spread continues to occur …
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  • Insights into health system costs of living and dying in New Zealand – New study

    … shows how public spending on health varies markedly by age and proximity to death ( Blakely et al 2014, health system … varied by age and whether people were within six or 12 months of death.  One analysis simulated health … 2007-09 costs by age applied.  The results are in Figure 1(click on it for higher quality image). Figure 1. Estimated …
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  • Food taxes and subsidies will probably protect health & reduce inequalities – but the devil is in the detail

    … Professors Tony Blakely, Cliona Ni Mhurchu and Nick Wilson Professor Cliona Ni Mhurchu Research teams we … in modelling is something called cross-price elasticities, or how consumption of cheese changes when you change the … subsidies and taxes?  Based on existing research (e.g. 1-4 ): Taxes on high fat and high salt foods will probably …
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  • More wastewater testing could guide optimal Covid-19 control on the path back to elimination

    … It also achieves these better results at perhaps only 1% of the cost of community testing. Even though there are … at 97 sites across the country, with this covering cities and towns with around 3.8 million New Zealanders (Prime … sites will have daily testing – with some having weekly or twice weekly testing [Personal Communication, Dr Brent …
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  • Digesting things further: High dietary salt intakes are almost certainly problematic

    … We recently did a blog post on dietary salt and health , particularly with regard to a new large … a meta-analysis of 34 trials lasting more than 4 weeks (1)). The randomised trial data show that reducing blood … authors’ state. Reverse causation would arise if early CVD or other diseases caused a lowering of salt intake or …
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  • Smokefree Laws: Reducing tobacco outlets will decrease crime

    … spokespeople have failed to provide either evidence or logic to justify the repeal of world-leading smokefree … on ram raids, which suggests these crimes are decreasing and that only a minority target tobacco products. We also … would help decrease smoking uptake among young people, 1 support cessation among people who smoke, and accelerate …
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  • Reducing salt in food good for health and NZ’s health budget – New research

    … intake of New Zealanders could produce major health gains and major cost savings for the publicly-funded health sector. … – it is the eleventh most important risk factor globally [ 1 ], with the same ranking for Australasia. In particular, we … around 3500 mg of sodium per day (around 9 grams of salt – or 1.5 teaspoons of salt) currently for the typical NZ adult …
    Briefing

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Public Health Expert Briefing (ISSN 2816-1203)