Public Health Expert

Putin and the Bomb: Why New Zealand national risk assessments should include planning for the potential impacts of nuclear winter

Public Health Expert • Mar 14, 2022

• New Zealand stories,
• nuclear winter,
• Public Health

Dr Matt Boyd & Prof Nick Wilson* (Syndicated from the Adapt Research Blog) In this blog we briefly review the literature on the probability of nuclear war and what various models estimate to be the potential global climate impacts (eg, of nuclear winter). Although New Zealand is relatively well placed as a major food producer – a … Read More

Longer-term harm from Covid-19 in children: The evidence suggests greater efforts are needed to protect children in Aotearoa NZ from infection

Public Health Expert • Mar 09, 2022

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

Dr Amanda Kvalsvig, Dr Anna Brooks, Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Julie Bennett, Dr Jennifer Summers, Carmen Timu-Parata, Dr Cervantée Wild, Belinda Tuari-Toma, Constanza Jackson, Prof Michael Baker* Longer-term (or ‘post-acute effects’) of Covid-19 in children (including multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children [MIS-C] and long Covid) are well-described. But there is a lack of robust evidence about the prevalence of these … Read More

Daily nicotine use increases among youth in Aotearoa NZ: The 2021 Snapshot Y10 Survey

Public Health Expert • Mar 08, 2022

• aotearoa smokefree 2025,
• New Zealand stories,
• Public Health,
• vaping

Janet Hoek, Jude Ball, Lindsay Robertson, Philip Gendall, Nick Wilson, Richard Edwards, Andrew Waa* Recently, ASH New Zealand released findings from the 2021 Snapshot Year 10 survey, a large cross-sectional survey of young people aged 14-15. The survey provides important information on vaping and smoking among an age group where dependence on nicotine may develop, and the findings enable … Read More

Ventilation in NZ schools during the Omicron wave – results from a preliminary study

Public Health Expert • Feb 28, 2022

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

Dr Julie Bennett, Dr Tim Chambers and Dr Caroline Shorter* Ventilation is a key and relatively underutilised public health measure that can reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission. Last year we outlined the need for adequate ventilation in schools and highlighted the need for nationwide ventilation surveillance. In this blog we provide an overview of the results of carbon dioxide … Read More

Aotearoa New Zealand’s unhealthy food environment needs more policy action

Public Health Expert • Feb 28, 2022

• food environment,
• New Zealand stories,
• nutrition

Dr Sally Mackay, Dr Kelly Garton, Dr Sarah Gerritsen* A new report reveals the troubling state of New Zealand’s food environment due to inaction from successive Governments and calls for this to change. Food environments influence the food we buy and eat, so are a key intervention area for improving population nutrition and diet-related health conditions. Food policies can … Read More

Strengthening Omicron mitigation strategies in Early Childhood Education settings

Public Health Expert • Feb 24, 2022

• childcare,
• COVID-19,
• education,
• New Zealand stories

Julie Bennett, Philippa Anderson, Sarah Donovan, Amanda Kvalsvig, Alison Leversha, Subhadra Rajanaidu, and Jin Russell* Aotearoa New Zealand is in a major Omicron outbreak. With Covid-19 cases doubling every few days, what opportunities are there to strengthen the mitigation approaches in early education settings? In this blog we discuss what is needed to protect this group of children and their … Read More

Mortality declines in Aotearoa NZ during the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic

Public Health Expert • Feb 23, 2022

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

Dr Jennifer Summers, Professor Michael Baker, Professor Nick Wilson* In this blog we review the impact of Aotearoa NZ’s Covid-19 response strategies on mortality patterns during the first 2 years of the pandemic. We find that NZ experienced an increase in life expectancy, decreased winter mortality, and net decline in (excess) mortality. These impacts are far more positive than experienced … Read More

Promoting physical activity through the prescription of smartphone apps in primary care: Likely to produce health gains and cost-savings

Public Health Expert • Feb 22, 2022

• fitness,
• New Zealand stories,
• Public Health

Dr Leah Grout, Kendra Telfer, Dr Cristina Cleghorn, Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Anja Mizdrak* Over 40% of NZ adults are insufficiently physically active. In this blog we summarise our recently published modelling work that suggests that the prescription of smartphone apps for physical activity promotion in primary care could benefit health and save millions in health sector costs for … Read More

COVID-19 hospitalisation peaks in Australian States since Omicron emerged: potential relevance to Aotearoa NZ

Public Health Expert • Feb 04, 2022

• COVID-19,
• New Zealand stories

Dr Jennifer Summers, Prof Nick Wilson, Prof Michael Baker* In this blog we examine the hospitalisation and ICU burden from the recent waves of COVID-19 in Australia, dominated by the Omicron variant. The peak in hospitalisations in Australia during the months of December 2021 and January 2022 occurred on 19 January with 5,302 people in hospital. ICU numbers also peaked … Read More

Protecting New Zealand children from the developing Omicron outbreak

Public Health Expert • Jan 25, 2022

• COVID-19,
• New Zealand stories

Amanda Kvalsvig, Nick Wilson, Carmen Timu-Parata, Belinda Tuari-Toma, Jennifer Summers, Cheryl Davies, Constanza Jackson, Julie Bennett, and Michael G. Baker* Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) is likely to soon be experiencing widespread community transmission caused by the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In this blog we outline what is needed to protect the health and wellbeing of children (ie, those … Read More