» Home > 2021 >

Monthly Archives: December 2021

COVID-19, Christmas, the New Year and Summer Holidays: What the NZ Government and individuals can do to minimise the risks

Friday, December 17th, 2021 | carra86p | No Comments

Dr Jennifer Summers, Dr Amanda Kvalsvig, Dr Julie Bennett, Dr Lucy Telfar Barnard, Professor Michael G Baker*

As Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) prepares for the upcoming summer holidays and Christmas celebrations, the impact of COVID-19 will surely be felt by all. In this blog we briefly discuss the two major COVID-19 threats that NZ will need to manage between now and the end of January: New Zealand’s domestic Delta variant outbreak and the growing international Omicron variant threat. Both require policy responses from Government and action from all New Zealanders.

Continue reading →

Key findings on smoking and e-cigarette use prevalence and trends in the 2020/21 NZ Health Survey

Friday, December 17th, 2021 | carra86p | 3 Comments

Richard Edwards, Jude Ball, Janet Hoek, Nick Wilson, Andrew Waa*

New Zealand Health Survey (NZHS) data released in early December suggest substantial reductions in smoking prevalence occurred between 2019/20 and 2020/21 among all ethnic groups. This blog describes the key findings, explores the data in more detail, and discusses how these changes may have arisen and their implications, particularly given the Government has now released an innovative Action Plan outlining how it will achieve the Smokefree Aotearoa goal.

Continue reading →

The cost burden of excess weight in New Zealand: Sizing up a new report

Tuesday, December 14th, 2021 | carra86p | 1 Comment

Professor Boyd Swinburn*

The latest New Zealand Health Survey results show a substantial up-tick in both childhood and adult obesity prevalence after plateauing for a decade. This is of great concern and it makes a new report from the Sapere Research Group on the Economic Impact of Excess Weight in Aotearoa all the more important. The report was commissioned by Hapai Te Hauora and it is a very welcome update on the two previous studies I was involved with using data from 1991 and 2006.

Continue reading →

Current and future generations must flourish: Time for a long-term and global perspective on pandemic and other catastrophic risks

Thursday, December 2nd, 2021 | carra86p | No Comments

Dr Matt Boyd & Prof Nick Wilson* (Syndicated from Adapt Research’s Blog Site)

In this blog post we cover the following:

  • The recent United Nations report ‘Our Common Agenda’ which calls for solidarity, concern for future generations, and collaborative action on global risks including pandemics.
  • The newly mandated Long-term Insights Briefings (LTIB) that Aotearoa NZ public sector organisations must prepare and some ideas for what could be included in the Ministry of Health’s LTIB.
  • Overview of our just published research paper calling for a well-resourced NZ Parliamentary Commissioner for Catastrophic Risks to help prioritise action and ensure a safe and flourishing future.

Continue reading →