Public Health Expert

Health co-benefits need to be adequately considered in the Climate Change Commission’s final advice

Public Health Expert • Jun 21, 2021

• climate change commission,
• health co-benefits,
• housing,
• New Zealand stories,
• Pollution,
• Transport

Tim Chambers, Simon Hales, Jude Ball, Michael Baker, Cristina Cleghorn, Nick Wilson (*Author details) The Climate Change Commission’s final advice to the Government has been tabled in Parliament. This final report further acknowledged the potential health co-benefits of climate action presented in the Commission’s draft advice. However, the Commission has excluded these health co-benefits from its economic analyses, which currently … Read More

Update on Long-COVID

Public Health Expert • Jun 15, 2021

• COVID-19,
• long-COVID,
• New Zealand stories

Prof John D. Potter* This blog post updates an earlier post on Long-COVID and reports that estimates of prevalence are still wide at about 15 to 65% of those initially infected with the pandemic virus, SARS-CoV-2. As things stand now across the world, we do not yet have systems in place to diagnose and manage the massive burden of … Read More

A Smokefree Aotearoa Action Plan: Why this could eliminate smoking disparities for Māori

Public Health Expert • May 28, 2021

• Māori health,
• New Zealand stories,
• Smokefree Aotearoa 2025

Andrew Waa, Heather Gifford, Shane Bradbrook The recent release of the Government’s “Proposals for a Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Action Plan” (the  Plan) represents a significant step forward in how we think about tobacco control1. The Plan specifically references eliminating smoking related inequities, strengthening Māori governance and fulfilling government commitments to Te Tiriti o Waitangi as an essential part of achieving … Read More

New Modelling on the Risk of COVID-19 Outbreaks in NZ Associated with Arriving Travellers

Public Health Expert • May 28, 2021

• border control,
• COVID-19,
• New Zealand stories

Prof Nick Wilson, Prof Michael Baker, Prof Martin Eichner*  In this blog we detailed our just published modelling work on estimating the risk of COVID-19 outbreaks associated with air travel to NZ. We find that the risks are typically very low for travel from Australia (a “green zone” country with small occasional outbreaks from border system failures). But these risks … Read More

Illicit tobacco trade and the Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Goal: Arguments and Evidence

Public Health Expert • May 27, 2021

• New Zealand stories,
• Public Health,
• Smokefree Aotearoa 2025,
• tobacco

Dr Allen Gallagher, Dr Lindsay Robertson, Prof Janet Hoek, Prof Nick Wilson, Prof Richard Edwards* The NZ Government has published proposals for an Action Plan to achieve the Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Goal. This blog is one of a series examining key aspects of the proposals to help inform the debate and submissions. Here we examine the illicit tobacco … Read More

Evidence supports a proposed Parliamentary Bill to reduce harm from alcohol sponsorship of sport

Public Health Expert • May 26, 2021

• Alcohol,
• New Zealand stories,
• Public Health,
• sponsorship

Dr Tim Chambers, Dr Nicki Jackson, Dr Amanda Jones, Dr Jude Ball, Prof Louise Signal, Dr Moira Smith, Christina McKerchar, Prof Janet Hoek (*Author details) Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick recently announced a Member’s Bill to end alcohol sponsorship of sport, acting on recommendations by three Government-commissioned bodies and the World Health Organization. Viable sponsorship replacement models already exist and could … Read More

How to best describe NZ’s border control problems around COVID-19 with a possible typology

Public Health Expert • May 24, 2021

• border control,
• COVID-19,
• New Zealand stories

Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Leah Grout, Dr Jennifer Summers, Dr Amanda Kvalsvig, Prof Michael Baker* Particular words and phrases can frame how issues are considered and the extent to which they imply the need for a corrective response to improve system design or delivery. After considering a range of words, we consider that the phrase “border system failure” comes closest … Read More

Nitrate contamination in drinking water and adverse birth outcomes: emerging evidence is concerning for NZ

Public Health Expert • May 24, 2021

• New Zealand stories,
• nitrates,
• Public Health

Dr Tim Chambers, Prof Nick Wilson, Prof Simon Hales, Prof Michael Baker*   While there is growing evidence that nitrates in drinking water are a risk factor for bowel cancer, there is also emerging evidence concerning adverse birth outcomes such as prematurity. This blog takes a brief look at this new evidence and puts it into a NZ context. Nitrate … Read More

Social Marketing for Smokefree Aotearoa 2025: Reminding, Reinforcing, and Changing Social Norms

Public Health Expert • May 21, 2021

• aotearoa smokefree 2025,
• behaviour change,
• New Zealand stories,
• smokefree,
• social marketing

Janet Hoek, Andrew Waa, Nick Wilson, Lindsay Robertson, Phil Gendall, George Thomson* The NZ Government’s Action Plan to realise the Smokefree 2025 goal has signalled a more important role for social marketing. Social marketing can facilitate and reinforce population-level behaviour change introduced by new policies, thus modifying social norms, which also support long-term improvements in health outcomes. In this blog, … Read More

The Case for Banning Cigarette Filters: Addressing a Consumer Fraud, Smoking Decoy and Environmental Hazard

Public Health Expert • May 17, 2021

• New Zealand stories,
• smokefree,
• Smokefree Aotearoa 2025

Janet Hoek, Phil Gendall, Tom Novotny, Nick Wilson, Lindsay Robertson, Richard Edwards, James F Thrasher (*Author details) The Government’s proposed Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Action Plan sets out a perceptive vision for reducing smoking prevalence and ensuring that, once the goal is reached, future generations will remain smokefree. Among the evidence-based measures set out, the plan includes proposals … Read More