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.
Monday, September 26th, 2016 | Kate Sloane | 4 Comments
Prof Alistair Woodward, A/Prof Simon Hales
An Independent Inquiry is now investigating the cause of the water-borne outbreak caused by Campylobacter in Havelock North. In this blog we consider the background to this issue and argue the Inquiry must not miss the opportunity to think up-stream, on the scale of water catchments, agricultural economies and climate systems.
Saturday, December 19th, 2015 | Nick Wilson | 3 Comments
Prof Michael Baker & Prof Nick Wilson
NZ has a long-running Campylobacter infection epidemic with contaminated fresh poultry the major source. Added to this problem is the recent rapid emergence of antibiotic resistance in these Campylobacter infections acquired from locally produced poultry. In this blog we briefly detail these problems and explore potential solutions: (i) build on the past NZ success of regulating lower contamination levels in poultry; (ii) publicise contamination levels by poultry brand; (iii) label fresh poultry with information about Campylobacter contamination and how to reduce the risk; and (iv) encourage consumers to switch to frozen or cooked poultry – or switch completely to other protein foods.