632 Results

  • Five lessons for Aotearoa NZ from the current COVID-19 outbreak in New South Wales

    … safety of international sea crews). Lesson 2: NZ needs to be ready to lockdown local areas very fast and very hard in … changes in masking and QR code scanning requirements may be forthcoming. The problem: There have been relatively low … vaccinated ( 19 ). The slow rate of vaccination in NSW may be delaying outbreak control and could result in a longer …
    Briefing

  • A 100 years ago today a death ship from NZ arrived in Samoa: A reminder of NZ’s responsibilities to its South Pacific neighbours

    … per cent of the Samoan population died. It is judged to be one of the worst epidemics recorded in the world, and was … potential for production of novel pathogens which could be released accidentally or deliberately as bioterrorist weapons [10]. What should the NZ Government be doing to advance regional pandemic control now? We think …
    Briefing

  • Mind the gap: Associate Health Minister’s actions conflict with Ministry advice, align with tobacco industry lobbying

    … the National party stipulated that this legislation would be repealed, despite the National Party Health Minister, Dr … 17%. Officials therefore concluded there is still much to be done to realise the Smokefree 2025 goal, defined as … snus which, like oral nicotine pouches, cannot legally be sold in Aotearoa New Zealand. On 31 January, senior …
    Briefing

  • How much revenue would a New Zealand sugary drink tax raise? And how might be best to do it?

    … from such a tax – which we outline here, and estimate to be between $65 and $100 million a year. We also consider … much tax revenue would it raise?” and “how might the tax be best applied?”. The FIZZ Symposium organisers asked us to … $52 na $9 $4 $65 While a SSB tax intervention is likely to be good for health, what could be done with this extra …
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  • New study on going smokefree – major economic gains for NZ society with manageable costs for government

    … gains to NZ citizens from this smokefree law – it should be favoured by an evidence-informed government.   A recent … one way in which the impact on government finances could be reduced. That is, we considered the impact of the … citizens. We find the ethics of this approach to be perverse as tobacco tax typically takes revenue from the …
    Briefing

  • Note to the Havelock North Inquiry – Think Big

    … between 2000 and 2004 in which water was considered to be the likely source (Table 6.8 in: Wilson, 2005). … human settlements. To keep pathogens at bay, there need to be multiple lines of defence. When the first defences are breached, the loading of pathogens tends to be erratic, difficult to predict and unevenly distributed …
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  • Why do so many fear the bicycle?

    … quantifying the risk of cycling injury. We found it to be low compared to other activites that New Zealanders … literally, to the side of the road), and how this might be changed.   “It is too dangerous” is the reason given most … activities in New Zealand. What should these comparisons be based on? Risk per hour, per kilometre, per head of …
    Briefing

  • “100% Pure” – Public Health Goal Setting

    … goal is short on detail, and so a nice “100%” touch would be to have a law that actually prohibited all commercial … some measles outbreaks last year, this goal might well be achievable in the near future (albeit a little after the … an up-to-date cost-effectiveness analysis may need to be done, it is likely to be a worthwhile investment (based on …
    Briefing

  • Can earthquakes be good for public health?

    … in shaky Wellington, makes one regularly wonder what might be the potential long-term benefits of earthquakes for public … new energy efficient buildings. After earthquakes it may be possible to apply state-of-the-art urban design to make … Perhaps then (at least for places like Wellington), it may be worthwhile for people to consistently try to use stairs, …
    Briefing

  • It’s been 3 years since COVID entered New Zealand – here are 3 ways to improve our response

    … and adverse health effects. This strategy needs to be delivered in an effective and equitable way. An integrated … Covid-19 as another important infectious disease to be controlled . 2 The first big challenge is identifying an … attacks and other circulatory diseases 8 and appears to be driving an increase in excess mortality in many countries. …
    Briefing

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Public Health Expert Briefing (ISSN 2816-1203)