Guest Work • Jun 28, 2017 •
By Andrew Dickson, Massey University Charles Darwin died in 1882 at the age of 73, likely of a heart attack. At the time, the average life span in England was about 44 years. Darwin, by any stretch of the imagination, was a long-lived man, despite suffering some significant health issues throughout his life. Mapped to New Zealand in … Read More
Eric Crampton • Jun 15, 2017 •
The New Zealand government finally got around to telling the tobacco companies what the rules will be under plain packaging. Plain packaging won’t be in effect for a while yet, but it takes a while to adjust production lines – it’s good that they finally got the rules out. Fairfax’s Rob Stock called me asking for comment on plain … Read More
Public Health Expert • Jun 14, 2017 •
Dr Andrea Teng, Dr Barry Milne, Mr Philip Walker, Prof Tony Blakely The NZ Government is showing strong leadership on data sharing. In this blog we describe some of the opportunities and the challenges in this new data environment. We focus on how the Virtual Health Information Network (VHIN) can contribute to stronger health research and therefore benefit the health … Read More
Guest Work • Jun 13, 2017 •
By Rebecca Chisholm, University of Melbourne and Nicholas Geard, University of Melbourne Australia was declared measles-free in 2014. However, the recent importation of a case of measles into Australia from Indonesia illustrates the threat this disease still poses to Australians. It also underscores the importance of maintaining high vaccination rates against rare diseases to … Read More
John Kerr • May 17, 2017 •
We may be a small country tucked away in the South Pacific, but that doesn’t mean New Zealand is immune to the global problem of ‘superbugs’, warns a new report. A new evidence paper from the Royal Society Te Apārangi sums up the current knowledge on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in New Zealand and outlines efforts underway to prevent the … Read More
John Kerr • Apr 21, 2017 •
Infectious disease experts are “deeply alarmed” by the death of a US woman due to a bacterial infection resistant to all available antibiotics. Writing this week in a Medical Journal of Australia editorial, researchers warn that the case may herald “the start of the post-antibiotic era.” Professor Cheryl Jones, President of the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases (ASID), and … Read More
Michelle Dickinson • Apr 17, 2017 •
Dear Lorraine, I see that last week you decided to send this message to Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter: After reading your e-mail I decided to create a flowchart for you to follow for the next time that you decide to interact with another human being. This should especially be used when communicating with people that you … Read More
Public Health Expert • Apr 12, 2017 •
Jenny Ombler, Dr Sarah Donovan (University of Otago, Wellington) Last month was the first time that the Public Health Summer School (University of Otago, Wellington) has considered art, and its relationship to public health. The Symposium featured artists, arts academics, an architect, and public health practitioners and academics. In this blog we consider some of the issues raised … Read More
Public Health Expert • Mar 14, 2017 •
By Prof Alistair Woodward, Auckland University “It is too dangerous.” This is the reason given most commonly for not riding a bike on the road in New Zealand. In this blog, I summarise a paper we have just published quantifying the risk of cycling injury. We found it to be low compared to other activites that New Zealanders commonly engage … Read More
Eric Crampton • Mar 02, 2017 •
A couple more important points on the Mexican soda tax, which I discussed in relation to a recent report on sugar taxes in New Zealand. First from the comments on Tuesday’s post: Mexicans also love to drink uncarbonated sugary drinks, like horchata, and drink more of those now carbonated beverages are more dear. Much of that market doesn’t go … Read More