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Where do the parties stand? A low carbon, healthy transport system
… , and the articles in the series will be collated here as they are published. Transport is crucially important for … and Labour did not reply directly to the questions as they had not released their full transport policies. We … pedestrian crossings, and lower speed limits near schools. 5. Require road and street maintenance projects to consider …
Briefing
COVID-19 in Aotearoa: what does public health do now?
… in Aotearoa. But the work for public health is not over. As the situation in Auckland heralds a transition point in … to rapidly pivot to establishing Māori-led mobile teams, as the standard contact tracing model proved ineffective at … just over 50% of Māori children were fully vaccinated by 4.5 years of age. The review into the serious 2019 measles …
Briefing
Smoking prevalence and trends: important findings from the 2023-24 New Zealand Health Survey
… that the government’s Smokefree Goal , commonly expressed as daily smoking prevalence falling below 5% for all population groups, is very unlikely to be … persist, with daily smoking prevalence over twice as high for Māori and Pacific peoples compared to …
Briefing
Clean ups are not enough: Government policy incoherent on climate change
… of policies likely to increase the country’s emissions as well as the Fast-track Approvals Bill which will reduce the rigour … in the face of climate change are deeply troubling as its impacts on the country come into stark relief. NZ …
Briefing
Why a “mouth and nose” lockdown with masks might help avoid a “full body” lockdown at home
… have also been implicated in a restaurant outbreak, as per this informative blog , which also details outbreaks … countries face the risk of a second wave of infections 4-5 months later [5]. When looking at empirical data from … Levels has been a useful approach to pandemic control. But as the country moved into Alert Level 2, the bubbles have …
Briefing
That old chestnut again – does any alcohol consumption reduce cardiovascular disease risk? More evidence for “no”.
… a study design with much potential for identifying causal (as opposed to confounded) associations) has been published … If so it would make cost-effective interventions such as alcohol taxation even more justified. In this blog, we … trick is to use your random assignment of genes at birth as a type of RCT – there is a random chance you will inherit …
Briefing
Unaffordable home heating increases risk of severe mental distress
… countries. 1-3 Cold housing and energy poverty (also known as energy hardship in Aotearoa 4 ), are caused by factors such as poor building quality, energy and electricity costs and … in the odds of reporting severe mental distress”. 5 For people with good mental health initially, the odds of …
Briefing
Antiviral stockpiles for pandemic preparedness: Time for a careful rethink?
… As part of influenza pandemic readiness, NZ has a 32 million … have done a fairly good job of influenza pandemic planning as per a previous review just before the 2009 pandemic. This … of oseltamivir increases the risk of adverse effects, such as nausea, vomiting, psychiatric effects and renal events in …
Briefing
What will the Government’s free vape starter kit programme achieve?
… Summary As part of the Government’s plan to achieve the Smokefree … goal. We urgently need additional plausible measures, such as denicotinisation, to support rapid and equitable … in 2011 , means daily smoking prevalence of less than 5% in all population groups . Minister Costello has endorsed …
Briefing
Expansion of “green zones” may provide a chance for the global eradication of COVID-19
… globe, including countries with large land borders such as China and Vietnam [1]. Secondly, effective vaccines were … of poliovirus [4]. PHSMs were used to eradicate SARS [5] without vaccination. With safe and highly effective … Firstly, prevention of disease (including sequelae such as “long COVID”), hospitalisations, and deaths (with …
Briefing

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