In the news: Public Health Priorities Series

Here's a selection of coverage of the Public Health Priorities Series published on The Briefing, coinciding with the launch of the Public Health Expert Briefing. 

 

When the first barrier fails: Strengthening protection for drinking water sources
Marnie Prickett and co-authors closed the Public Health Priorities series with a call to action for our water regulator to do more to protect our water sources. They used the nitrate contamination in Waimate as a case study. Newsroom featured this article in a shorter form which was republished in NZ Doctor. Marnie was also interviewed for a podcast played on 95bfm. The full Briefing was republished by Water NZ in it's May/June magazine. 

How to make NZ’s Tax System fairer
Our second to last Briefing in the Public Health Priorities series featured in a shorter form in Newsroom on 8 March. In the piece, Louise Delany argues doing something serious about intergenerational inequalities and poverty requires a far greater focus on wealth as a source of government revenue. Louise went on to speak on RNZ National's The Panel with Wallace Chapman that afternoon and Kerre Woodham's Mornings on Newstalk ZB on 9 March. 

Breaking the inequity loop
In Newsroom's 2023 Election series on 1 March, Professor Jason Gurney and Professor Jonathan Koea provide a historical snapshot of Māori population health. They argue that this election, we must ask our leaders their plan for addressing enduring and unacceptable inequities in health experienced by our Indigenous peoples This piece has been adapted from their longer-form Briefing article. The full Briefing was carried in full in the Kahu section of the NZ Herald on 13 March.

No Health without Housing 
Improving NZ’s housing stock is a critical policy issue that requires a multi-partisan approach argue Professor Phillipa Howden-Chapman and colleagues in a Newsroom opinion editorial (24 February) adapted from a  Public Health Expert Briefing on the topic.

Political shortsightedness exposes NZ to roulette of risk
Newsroom ran a shorter version of the Public Health Expert Briefing on the need for long-term thinking in its Ideasroom section on 16 February to kick off their 2023 Election series.

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey
On 19 February, PHCC Director Dr Michael Baker was interviewed in the weekly Kākā webinar about The Briefing on the need for long-term thinking especially for preventing catastrophic risks. They talked about how democracies often struggle to overcome their biases toward short-term thinking, and fail to prepare for long-term risks, unless in times of crisis.