Insights into health system costs of living and dying in New Zealand – New study

Friday, May 2nd, 2014 | TONY BLAKELY | No Comments

Professor Tony Blakely and Associate Professor Nick Wilson (and on behalf of co-authors June Atkinson, Giorgi Kvizhinadze, Nhung Nghiem, and Heather McLeod)

A study in the NZ Medical Journal shows how public spending on health varies markedly by age and proximity to death (Blakely et al 2014, health system costs). It raises interesting questions about the best use of taxpayer funds for preventing and treating ill health. In this blog we detail the main findings of this study and reflect some of the possible implications. Continue reading

“100% Pure” – Public Health Goal Setting

Thursday, August 15th, 2013 | gibju57p | 2 Comments

Associate Professor Nick Wilson, University of Otago, Wellington

 

The “100% Pure” marketing of NZ is marketing hype and an easy target for UK tabloid journalists (see this NZ Herald piece). Nevertheless, there is a case for striving to achieve the “100% level” with certain threats to public health – for example, by achieving Smokefree New Zealand by 2025. Continue reading

Why don’t we live as long and healthily as we could: social values and decision making

Friday, July 12th, 2013 | TONY BLAKELY | No Comments

Welcome to this Public Health Expert Blog. This blog is going to consider what we could do, and what we probably should not do, to improve public health.  We will traverse the range from birth to end of life care and death, efficiency versus equity, learning from our history to future gazing, opportunity costs, climate change and aging populations, genetics to social determinants, and much more.  Myself and academic colleagues will blog about issues of the day, and issues that should be issues of the day.  We undertake to make this blog informative, relevant, and as evidence-based as possible. Continue reading