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Taxing tobacco in NZ: What we know and what could be next
… tax increases in this country, what remains unknown, and what might be needed for the next phase of tobacco … consumption per adult (for the period 2010 to 2014) (1). Smoking prevalence has also continued to decline for all … whether regular increases as per the recent pattern in NZ, or more episodic but larger tax increases would be most …
Briefing
The high burden from mental health disorders – but also an opportunity for cost-effective interventions
… published today in the Lancet, highlight that mental and substance use disorders are the leading cause of … a valuable contribution to knowledge about health problems and come from a massive international research project. The … world in taking the cost-effective steps needed to prevent and treat the high health burden from mental and substance …
Briefing
Politicians in Aotearoa NZ live longer than other Kiwis and the gap keeps widening
… least 5 years longer than the general NZ population (age and gender matched) and this gap has been growing since 1950. One of the likely … is passed in full? A just published study by Clarke et al 1 examined the lifespan of 57,561 politicians in 11 countries …
Briefing
The long shadow of war on the health of military personnel
… outcomes for military personnel participating in war – and suggests that such issues need to be considered carefully … edition of the British Medical Journal is detailed here (1). It found that the impact of the First World War (WWI) on … was that they typically lost around eight years of life and had an increased risk of early death in the post-war …
Briefing
A century of health inequalities in NZ – new data
… third most important risk factor for premature mortality [1]. This work estimated that low SEP is associated with a 2.1-year reduction in life expectancy between ages 40 and 85 years. In NZ, absolute differences in life expectancy … can be considered definitive in establishing differences (or not) in lifespan by occupational class at this time – but …
Briefing
Should NZ spend relatively more health resources on improving men’s health?
… than women by four years. This blog summarises key data and considers the major risk factors determining poorer male … less than females. However, males lived an average of 1.4 years less in poor health (8.9 years vs 11.5 years). In … Probably “no” from a simplistic utilitarian perspective. Or only to a small extent given that the gap in healthy life …
Briefing
Using a fun “Mask Day” at school to promote pandemic protection in the NZ community
… Government has recently recommended using face coverings or fabric masks as a strategy to contain COVID-19 pandemic … necessitating Alert Level 3 restrictions in Auckland and Alert Level 2 within the rest of the country. Despite the … in the Government’s recent promotion for mass masking [1], mask wearing in public is still not mandatory at this …
Briefing
Kiwi public health doc reporting back from Victoria (Australia): “Do quarantine well!”
… your Australian correspondent. Life as an epidemiologist and public health medicine specialist in Victoria, as a person who is new to the State, and not part of the formal apparatus, has been an interesting … Australia other than Victoria have eliminated the virus, or are close to such a definition (28 days without community …
Briefing
Being Bolder – Public Health Endgames for NZ
… This blog post provides a brief historical perspective and international perspective on public health-related … hazards and save costs (i.e., no more treatment costs or need for smallpox vaccination). A few other diseases are … are: Mumps and rubella with respectively only 23 and 1 notified cases in 2013. If we achieve the elimination of …
Briefing
Media release: Why we need an Aotearoa Centre for Disease Control (CDC)
… to be far worse than Covid-19 according to global health and infectious disease experts. In the latest Briefing from … Control —Professor Michael Baker, Professor John Crump, and co-authors look at the advantages of having a CDC to … science capacity needed for responding to future pandemics and better managing existing infectious disease threats. New …
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