The Briefing

Statistics NZ has signalled a move away from five-yearly population censuses to the use of administrative data instead. This Briefing cautions any changes to the census must be carefully planned and reviewed so they don't undermine or limit our crucial statistical infrastructure.

The controversial Fast-Track Approvals Bill circumvents legal protections for the environment and threatens public health.

Long Covid will have a wide range of societal, economic, and health impacts for New Zealand. What do we need to do to address this public health challenge effectively?

What lessons can we learn by examining similarities and differences between the 1918-19 influenza and Covid-19 pandemics?

As Covid-19 persists into its fifth year in Aotearoa New Zealand, we need to recognise that this pandemic is very different to expectations and adapt accordingly.

At the Public Health Congress in Auckland last week, one of us presented on potential public health endgames – partly to inform thinking around the tobacco endgame in New Zealand (the Smokefree Nation Goal for 2025). This blog considers what additional endgames this country could be bolder about tackling.

A recently published review has quantified the estimated benefits and harms of taking regular aspirin for disease prevention. This blog briefly looks at the issues and considers possible responses by NZ health agencies and research funders.

A paper in the NZ Medical Journal shows that New Zealand has higher death rates from cancer than Australia that cannot be explained by higher incidence for most sites. This blog we canvass how bad (or good) the situation really is, the problems and possible sources of error comparing survival across the ditch (it is not easy to do), and we conclude with policy implications.

This is Part 2 of a two-part blog by Dr Caroline Shaw and Associate Professor Diana Sarfati on breast cancer screening. In Part 1 they looked at the contested research around breast cancer screening. In today’s Part 2 they explore the implications for New Zealand.

This week Dr Caroline Shaw and Associate Professor Diana Sarfati consider the pros and cons of breast cancer screening, in light of the growing controversy (mostly in the northern hemisphere) about the possibility that the benefits of breast cancer screening are (much) less than previously thought due to over-detection and other issues.