Public Health Expert

COVID-19, Christmas, the New Year and Summer Holidays: What the NZ Government and individuals can do to minimise the risks

Public Health Expert • Dec 20, 2021

• COVID-19,
• New Zealand stories

Dr Jennifer Summers, Dr Amanda Kvalsvig, Dr Julie Bennett, Dr Lucy Telfar Barnard, Professor Michael G Baker* As Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) prepares for the upcoming summer holidays and Christmas celebrations, the impact of COVID-19 will surely be felt by all. In this blog we briefly discuss the two major COVID-19 threats that NZ will need to manage between now … Read More

Key findings on smoking and e-cigarette use prevalence and trends in the 2020/21 NZ Health Survey

Public Health Expert • Dec 17, 2021

• aotearoa smokefree 2025,
• New Zealand stories

Richard Edwards, Jude Ball, Janet Hoek, Nick Wilson, Andrew Waa* New Zealand Health Survey (NZHS) data released in early December suggest substantial reductions in smoking prevalence occurred between 2019/20 and 2020/21 among all ethnic groups. This blog describes the key findings, explores the data in more detail, and discusses how these changes may have arisen and their implications, particularly given … Read More

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

Public Health Expert • Dec 14, 2021

• New Zealand stories,
• Obesity,
• Public Health

Professor Boyd Swinburn* The latest New Zealand Health Survey 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 the Economic Impact of Excess Weight in Aotearoa all the more important. The report was … Read More

Current and future generations must flourish: Time for a long-term and global perspective on pandemic and other catastrophic risks

Public Health Expert • Dec 02, 2021

• global health,
• New Zealand stories,
• pandemics

Dr Matt Boyd & Prof Nick Wilson* (Syndicated from Adapt Research’s Blog Site) In this blog post we cover the following: The recent United Nations report ‘Our Common Agenda’ which calls for solidarity, concern for future generations, and collaborative action on global risks including pandemics. The newly mandated Long-term Insights Briefings (LTIB) that Aotearoa NZ public sector organisations must … Read More

Smokefree cars – an important step towards protecting children from the hazards of smoking

Public Health Expert • Nov 26, 2021

• New Zealand stories,
• Smokefree Aotearoa 2025

Richard Edwards, Jude Ball, Janet Hoek, George Thomson, Nick Wilson*  On November 28 new legislation to protect children from smoking and vaping in cars will come into force. This blog sets out the background and rationale for the new law, and discusses implementation, evaluation and the next steps to protect children from smoking-related harm in Aotearoa. Secondhand smoke (SHS) is … Read More

Vaping needs much tighter regulation as we approach Smokefree Aotearoa 2025: Two new studies

Public Health Expert • Nov 24, 2021

• aotearoa smokefree 2025,
• New Zealand stories,
• Smoking,
• vaping

Nick Wilson, Janet Hoek, Jennifer Summers, Driss Ait Ouakrim, Andrew Waa, Richard Edwards, Tony Blakely* Two recent studies provide new insights into the impact vaping may have on public health. The first estimates that use of modern vaping devices could be around a third as harmful to health as smoking. The second uses these findings to estimate the net health … Read More

More than 147km – the transformative potential of the Wellington bike network plan

Public Health Expert • Nov 24, 2021

• cycling,
• emissions,
• New Zealand stories,
• Transport

Feature image by Luke Pilkinton-Ching, University of Otago Wellington   Caroline Shaw, Anja Mizdrak, Ryan Gage* Wellington City Council is currently consulting on a cycle network for Wellington. This is a big deal. WCC are proposing a 147km cycle network around the city, the vast majority of which is new. This will mean most suburbs in the city have … Read More

The Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Bill – a chance to submit on pivotal legislation for health in Aotearoa

Public Health Expert • Nov 09, 2021

• Health,
• New Zealand stories

Boyd Swinburn and Louise Delany* The Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Bill was introduced into Parliament in October 2021 and a submission process is now underway with a tight 9 December deadline. The Bill introduces major structural changes and will be associated with a suite of new health planning and strategy documents. The aim of this blog is to introduce … Read More

Management of Auckland’s external border with the world and internal boundary with NZ needs major changes to reflect the city’s shift from Covid-19 elimination to suppression

Public Health Expert • Nov 08, 2021

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

Dr Lucy Telfar Barnard, Dr Jennifer Summers, Lesley Gray, Prof Michael Baker, Prof Nick Wilson* Analysis of countries with reasonable quality data implies that the risk of Covid-19 infection for most vaccinated international arrivals is typically less than the current risk for Auckland residents. Current MIQ requirements for vaccinated arrivals to Auckland could therefore be dropped for most, without increasing … Read More

Monitoring CO2 indoors for improving ventilation as a Covid-19 control tool

Public Health Expert • Oct 27, 2021

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

Dr Ian Longley and Dr Julie Bennett* Poor ventilation in indoor settings is widely recognised as a risk factor for the airborne transmission of the virus (SARS-CoV-2) that causes Covid-19. Virus-laden aerosols can remain airborne for hours in indoor spaces with low levels of ventilation. In this blog, we discuss how to use carbon dioxide (CO2) measures as a proxy … Read More