745 Results

  • False zombie arguments about illicit tobacco shouldn’t be given any more oxygen

    … terms in tandem with declines in smoking prevalence and consumption. Arguments about growth in illicit trade come … of argument that refuse to die, despite lacking a logical or empirical foundation. 1 Repeated often enough, many people may come to believe …
    Briefing

  • Emphasis on indigenous forests in ETS would benefit public health

    … touch on the impacts to human health from climate change and then outline the problems for public health from … of the greatest health challenges of the 21 st century. 1 Climate change poses both direct and indirect health … well-being from climate change policy is often obscured or ignored when the problem that policy is aiming to solve is …
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  • A pandemic that won’t go away – as Covid enters its 5th year, NZ needs a realistic strategy

    … that this pandemic is very different to expectations and adapt accordingly. Evolving variants are driving ongoing … New Zealand  in eight weeks, killing 9,000 people – almost 1% of the population. 1 Then it was largely gone, returning … feature of long Covid : recovery can take  two years or more , with  symptoms that fluctuate  over time. 7 An …
    Briefing

  • Fighting cold, damp housing – a big tick for Warmer Kiwi programme

    … use, result in warmer, drier living areas in winter, and can help to lower respiratory illness. Motu Research has evaluated the Government’s Warmer Kiwi Homes programme and found using heat pumps reduces electricity use by 16 … and exacerbation of chronic conditions such as asthma. 1,2,3 Improved home heating can lead to reductions in these …
    Briefing

  • The cost burden of excess weight in New Zealand: Sizing up a new report

    … results show a substantial up-tick in both childhood and adult obesity prevalence after plateauing for a decade. This is of great concern and it makes a new report from the Sapere Research Group on … that society would put on premature death, disability or loss of quality of life attributed to the condition …
    Briefing

  • Taxing sugary drinks: Empirical findings out of Mexico

    … of taxing sugar sweetened beverages (SSB) in Mexico (1). This study reported that the 10% tax on SSBs was associated with an overall 12% reduction in purchases and a 4% increase in purchases of untaxed beverages one year … drinks such as diet fizzy drinks; sparkling, still, or plain water; and other drinks, including unsweetened dairy …
    Briefing

  • Can we manage dual use of smoking and vaping more effectively?

    … to smoke. We recently probed this perplexing ambiguity and explored dual use of cigarettes and electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) [1]. In this blog, we summarise our findings and consider … a cigarette at key moments, such as when drinking coffee or alcohol, or when under stress. Although most participants …
    Briefing

  • Proposed Emissions Reduction Plan: A weak response to a weak target

    … reducing emissions. It relies instead on emissions trading and technological advances, the latter of which are highly … efforts to reduce the impact of climate change. 1 The NDC, endorsed by successive NZ Governments, relies on … international commitments under the NDC. Given a petrol or diesel vehicle purchased today will produce emissions over …
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  • The hardening hypothesis for smoking – but does the evidence point to “softening” in NZ?

    … NZ evidence support this? This blog considers these issues and explores the potential implications for achieving NZ’s … the remaining smokers will increasingly be ‘hard-core’ or ‘hardened’, with higher nicotine dependence and less … surveys have generally found no evidence of hardening (1-11). The most recent international evidence comes from a …
    Briefing

  • Global survey shows New Zealanders value science highly, prioritise public health

    … in science—ranking highly among the 68 countries surveyed—and counters global concerns about declining confidence in … But according to our new findings in a global survey 1 of more than 70,000 people across 68 countries (including … ignore the concerns of those who don’t trust science or minimise the disproportionate effect opinions of a …
    Briefing

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Public Health Expert Briefing (ISSN 2816-1203)