Public Health Expert

What will it take to get to under 5% smoking prevalence 2025? Lots of cessation.

Public Health Expert • Oct 16, 2013

• Health

Professor Tony Blakely and Assoc Professor Nick Wilson The New Zealand Government has a goal of a Smokefree Nation by 2025, often interpreted as a smoking prevalence of less than 5% by 2025.    This should be a major focus … Continue reading → … Read More

Advance Care Planning – good for patient care and better use of health dollars?

Public Health Expert • Oct 14, 2013

• advanced care planning,
• health care

Dr Ben Gray, General Practitioner, Primary Health Care & General Practice Department, University of Otago, Wellington Advance Care Planning (or ACP) is the process of thinking about, talking about and planning for future health care and end of life care. In … Continue reading → … Read More

Food taxes and subsidies will probably protect health & reduce inequalities – but the devil is in the detail

Public Health Expert • Oct 09, 2013

• cost effectiveness,
• Diet,
• equity,
• food,
• healthy eating,
• inequality,
• price elasticity,
• soft drinks,
• tax

Professors Tony Blakely, Cliona Ni Mhurchu and Nick Wilson Research teams we lead have published two papers in the last few weeks on food taxes and subsidies – both of which depend on what are called price elasticities.  Timely, in … Continue reading → … Read More

The need for an expanded national smokefree law – just got more critical

Public Health Expert • Oct 04, 2013

• law,
• smokefree,
• smoking,
• tobacco,
• well-being

Associate Professors Nick Wilson & George Thomson A just released Judicial Review has opened up the question of how “open areas” of buildings (where smoking is permitted in New Zealand) are determined in practice. In this blog post we consider … Continue reading → … Read More

A call for smart food policies to create an ‘appetite for health’

Public Health Expert • Oct 02, 2013

• Diet,
• healthy culture,
• healthy eating,
• well-being

Stefanie Vandevijvere, PhD and Boyd Swinburn, MD University of Auckland, School of Population Health In keeping with the issues covered in this week’s new book ”Appetite for Destruction“, we are calling for some smart food policies to create an ‘appetite for health’. … Continue reading → … Read More

Smart party pill law makes tobacco & alcohol regulation look pathetic

Public Health Expert • Sep 24, 2013

• alcohol,
• harm reduction,
• party pills,
• Psychoactive Substances Act,
• smoking,
• tobacco,
• well-being

Professor Richard Edwards Party pills now have stringent government-promulgated rules and processes. All but one MP voted for the new law. The irony is that tobacco – and for that matter alcohol – with orders of magnitude more harm gets … Continue reading → … Read More

Happiness surveys, & can health sector interventions improve well-being?

Public Health Expert • Sep 18, 2013

• alcohol,
• cost effectiveness,
• DALYs,
• HALYs,
• happiness,
• health metrics,
• Mental health,
• well-being

Assoc Prof Nick Wilson & Prof Tony Blakely According to the just released “World Happiness Report 2013”, New Zealanders are among the happiest people in the world, ranking 13th out of 156 nations examined. Actually only seven countries appear to … Continue reading → … Read More

Does change in income and deprivation change your smoking risk? Yes, but in different directions.

Public Health Expert • Sep 12, 2013

• deprivation,
• income,
• smoking,
• tax,
• tobacco

Professor Tony Blakely Everyone knows that lower socioeconomic groups are more likely to smoke.  But why?  Is it because of things like less education or more deprivation actually causing you to smoke?  Or is it other correlated things like personality?  … Continue reading → … Read More

New Zealand E-cigarette trial in Lancet – keeping it in perspective

Public Health Expert • Sep 09, 2013

• harm reduction,
• smokefree,
• smoking,
• tobacco

Professor Tony Blakely A New Zealand randomized trial of e-cigarettes just published in the prestigious Lancet journal has been touted in the media as showing how good e-cigarettes are for people wanting to quit smoking.  This is overstating the study … Continue reading → … Read More

The case for tobacco supply restrictions

Public Health Expert • Sep 06, 2013

• smoking,
• tobacco

Professor Janet Hoek, University of Otago It is now time to reduce the number and density of retail outlets selling tobacco.  Retail supply restrictions are both a logical component of policies that will achieve a tobacco-free New Zealand by 2025, … Continue reading → … Read More