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
Michelle Dickinson • Mar 17, 2017 •
The health store shelves are filled with optimistic claims of weight loss products. It’s tempting after what may have been weeks of “I’ll start the diet tomorrow” to think about cleansing out your system to kick start your new body. Quick fix detox teas, juices and supplements are heavily marketed, enticing you to drink a magical natural potion which will rid … Read More
Michael Reddell • Nov 28, 2016 •
Fidel Castro is dead. Sadly, the same can’t be said for the brutal regime that has controlled Cuba for 57 years now – the regime that suppresses speech, religion, and the exercise of democratic freedoms that we take for granted; the regime that executed thousands of its political opponents and which, to this day, imprisons many of those brave … Read More
Public Health Expert • Oct 25, 2016 •
Prof Tony Blakely, Dr Nisha Nair This blog is, and isn’t, about the breast cancer drug Herceptin. It is about Herceptin in that we report on a study we just published in the journal PLoS Medicine about the health gains, costs, and cost-effectiveness of Herceptin. It isn’t about Herceptin in that the key point is far more general: in the … Read More
Michael Reddell • Jul 23, 2016 •
Since the successful Brexit vote on 23 June, there has been a great deal of (mostly rather disdainful) attention paid in some quarters to the demographic breakground of the support for Leave and Remain. Among aggrieved Remainers there has been a particular focus on the fact that – at least among those who bothered to turn out to vote – … Read More
Public Health Expert • Jul 18, 2016 •
By Professor Nick Wilson The Government deserves congratulations for coming up with a Health Research Strategy. But the current Discussion Document needs a firmer strategic outlook with greater coherence. In this Perspective Blog a simple SWOT analysis is conducted and an alternative Vision Statement is proposed. It makes a lot of sense for a country to have a health … Read More
Michael Reddell • Jul 04, 2016 •
I’ve been struck again over the last few days by the determination of our “elites” – whether from the left-liberal end of the spectrum, or the (rather smaller) libertarian end – not to actually engage with the data on New Zealand’s experience of large scale immigration. In their amusing tongue-in-cheek simplified retelling of English history, 1066 and all that, Sellars and … Read More
Michael Reddell • May 28, 2016 •
The Herald’s editorial on Saturday was headed “Population growth is powering NZ economy”. It isn’t just a statement of the rather obvious, that a rapid growth in the population – particularly unexpectedly rapid growth – boosts total GDP. When there are more people, they all need to consume stuff, and they need houses, schools, shops, roads, offices etc. And … Read More
Public Health Expert • May 25, 2016 •
Dr George Disney, Dr Andrea Teng, Prof Nick Wilson, Prof Tony Blakely There are striking inequalities in cancer incidence and mortality in NZ, by both ethnicity and socioeconomic status. In this blog, we introduce an interactive online tool that enables anyone from researchers, policy-makers, journalists and health practitioners to access high quality data on these vital, population-level health statistics. Read More