Public Health Expert • Oct 18, 2021 •
Dr Belinda Loring, Dr Ruth Cunningham, Dr Polly Atatoa Carr* Public health activities have collectively made an incredible contribution to minimising the impact of COVID-19 in Aotearoa. But the work for public health is not over. As the situation in Auckland heralds a transition point in our approach to the pandemic, the challenge now is to be bold and clear … Read More
Public Health Expert • Oct 03, 2021 •
Prof Michael Baker, Prof Sue Crengle, Assoc Prof Collin Tukuitonga, Sarah Helm, Dr Amanda Kvalsvig, Prof Nick Wilson* Regardless of whether Auckland returns to Covid-19 elimination or transitions to a suppression approach, there are critical actions that can be taken to strengthen pandemic control measures, including: (1) Enhancing Covid-19 control in groups who experience deprivation and marginalisation; this is key … Read More
Guest Author • Sep 14, 2021 •
Edwin Kwong, The University of Melbourne; Joanna Williams, Swinburne University of Technology; Phillip Baker, Deakin University; Rob Moodie, The University of Melbourne, and Thiago M Santos, Federal University of Pelotas Ultra-processed foods might not be a familiar term to many people. But it is an emerging, and increasingly dominant type of food in the world. They are foods … Read More
Guest Author • Sep 07, 2021 •
Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, University of Oxford When electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) first emerged, they became a popular way for people to quit smoking. But in 2019, a mysterious lung condition emerged that primarily affected young people, particularly those who vaped. This left many questioning the safety of e-cigarettes. The condition was named e-cigarettes or vaping use-associated lung injury – or Evali for … Read More
Public Health Expert • Sep 06, 2021 •
Nick Wilson, Janet Hoek, Nhung Nghiem, Jennifer Summers, Leah Grout, Richard Edwards* This blog presents key findings from a modelling study where we estimated the impact that denicotinising smoked tobacco products could have on smoking prevalence in Aotearoa New Zealand. A policy requiring that all smoked tobacco products are virtually nicotine free is one of the key proposals included in … Read More
Public Health Expert • Sep 03, 2021 •
Dr Tim Chambers and Professor Simon Hales This week a report, co-funded by Fonterra and MBIE, investigated the relative contributions of nitrate in our diet from water and food. The report comes in response to emerging epidemiological evidence observing nitrate in drinking water as a risk factor for colorectal cancer. In separate public statements, the authors … Read More
Public Health Expert • Aug 26, 2021 •
Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Matthew Parry, Dr Leah Grout, Prof Michael Baker This blog briefly considers the issue of wastewater testing as part of Covid-19 control in Aotearoa NZ. Our analysis suggests that wastewater testing is much more effective in determining if a population is very likely to be Covid-19 free, when compared to typical levels of community testing. It … Read More
Public Health Expert • Aug 12, 2021 •
Richard Edwards, Louise Marsh, Lindsay Robertson, Frederieke Petrović-van der Deen, Nick Wilson, Janet Hoek* In this blog we discuss the arguments for and against one of the proposals included in the Smokefree 2025 Action Plan Discussion Document that the sale of smoked tobacco products could be restricted solely to community pharmacies after the number of retail outlets selling these products are … Read More
Public Health Expert • Jul 30, 2021 •
Dr Leah Grout, Dr Jennifer Summers, Prof Nick Wilson, Prof Michael Baker * The 2020 Olympic Games were originally postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The delayed event has now opened, with the opening ceremonies held on 23 July 2021 and competitions scheduled to take place through 9 August 2021. In this blog we look at the situation in Japan, … Read More
Public Health Expert • May 27, 2021 •
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