What could we do, and what should we not do, to improve public health? This Blog has postings from public health experts on issues such as efficiency, equity, interventions, politics, cost effectiveness and much more.
Friday, July 30th, 2021 | carra86p | No Comments
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, as compared to NZ, and discuss lessons for nations considering hosting large events with international attendees during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Friday, July 23rd, 2021 | carra86p | 2 Comments
Dr Matt Boyd, Syndicated from Adapt Research
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, everybody now knows that:
The fact that all these warnings were known, yet action was scant, remains difficult to comprehend. Although somewhat perversely, we even knew we would ignore the warnings. Psychological research has shown that these kinds of rare but devastating events are exactly the ones humans tend to overlook. As if to drive this point home, I noted in the news today that a resident of Westport (a New Zealand town flooded by a ‘1 in 100 year event’) even stated that he knew the area had flooded, but thought “the last one was it”.
Thursday, July 22nd, 2021 | carra86p | 2 Comments
Charlotte Gordon*
Untreated hearing loss is a large direct cause of disability and is associated with increased risk of social isolation, depression and anxiety. Māori are at risk of greater unmet needs in hearing health care in Aotearoa New Zealand, which can contribute to greater inequities. This blog argues that significant changes are needed in order to increase access to hearing healthcare and to reduce the risk and consequences of social isolation.
Wednesday, July 14th, 2021 | carra86p | No Comments
Amanda Kvalsvig, Nick Wilson, Cheryl Davies, Carmen Timu-Parata, Virginia Signal, Michael G. Baker
Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ’s) Alert Level system worked well in 2020, but the Covid-19 landscape is changing and the system needs to change with it to keep NZ ahead of the pandemic. In this blog we summarise our just-published recommendations for strengthening the Alert Level system and describe the benefits of an upgraded system: to better protect us from outbreaks, avoid lockdowns, help us transition to a post-vaccination future, support prevention of other respiratory disease epidemics, and uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Wednesday, July 14th, 2021 | carra86p | No Comments
Blog syndicated with permission from “The Pursuit” at Melbourne University, Australia
By Professor Tony Blakely, Dr Tim Wilson and Associate Professor Vijaya Sundararajan, University of Melbourne
As Australia looks toward opening its international borders, new virus modelling provides scenarios that can help us decide what’s the right risk to tolerate.