Category: Ministry of Health

Source: New Zealand Ministry of Health

Submissions close Monday, 2 December 2024 5:00pm.

Source: New Zealand Ministry of Health

Summary

The Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2024 sets out who we are and what we do, how we manage our business, our financial statements and statement of service performance as specified in Vote Health – Main Estimates of Appropriation 2023/24 and (where updated) in Vote Health – Supplementary Estimates of Appropriation 2023/24.

It provides a detailed breakdown of our achievements for the 2023/24 financial year and the progress made towards our six strategic objectives:

• Provide system-level leadership
• Drive system strategy and performance
• Be the Government’s primary advisor on health
• Future-proof our health system 
• Be the regulator of the health system 
• Transform ourselves.

Disclaimer: The graph for Figure 10, ‘Percentage of kaimahi who believe te ao Māori perspectives are relevant to their work’, differs from the print version of the Te Aho o Te Kahu 2023/23 Annual Report. This was due to an error where the graph for Figure 9, ‘Explain kaupapa Māori concepts’, was duplicated for both Figure 9 and Figure 10.

Source: New Zealand Ministry of Health

Summary

The Strategic Intentions 2024–2028 is how the Ministry informs Parliament and the public about:

1. the strategic objectives that the Ministry intends to achieve or contribute to over the medium term
2. what the Ministry intends to achieve with appropriations
3. the nature and scope of the Ministry’s functions and operations to achieve or contribute to the strategic objectives.

There are three main sections.

• Section one – introduction, including our purpose, functions and responsibilities, and our context
• Section two – our strategic direction, which includes our strategic priorities and priority activities
• Section three – how we operate as an organisation to achieve our strategic intentions. 

The document sets out the Ministry’s own strategic focus, functions and priorities aligned and contributing to, but distinct from those of the Government. 

The Ministry is responsible for reporting annually on progress against the Strategic Intentions 2024–2028 and what has been achieved with appropriations. Parliament sees information on performance reporting in the Ministry’s annual reports and information supporting the Estimates.

The Ministry’s Strategic Intentions 2024–2028 also includes the strategic intentions of Te Aho o Te Kahu – Cancer Control Agency. The agency is a departmental agency hosted by the Ministry and is operating within the Ministry’s strategic and policy framework.

Source: New Zealand Ministry of Health

Our climate is changing. These changes are affecting what we value most in our lives, including our health and wellbeing.

This first Health National Adaptation Plan (HNAP) is an important step towards placing health considerations at the forefront of the climate response of Aotearoa New Zealand. It sets the strategic direction and provides national-level priority actions for health-focused adaptation to climate change. 

The vision for the HNAP is ‘to protect the health and wellbeing of people and communities from the effects of climate change to achieve pae ora – healthy futures for all New Zealanders’. The aim of this deliberately broad scope is to ensure the health system can provide climate-resilient health services, while also addressing the broader direct and indirect effects of climate change on the health of communities, including those effects that sectors outside the health system contribute to.

The Ministry of Health – Manatū Hauora has developed the HNAP as an action arising from New Zealand’s first National Adaptation Plan. The HNAP also reflects the health system’s own mandate to respond to climate change, most recently reiterated in the Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Health 2024 – 2027.   

Source: New Zealand Ministry of Health

If a licensed provider wishes to use a drug checking testing method not on the approved lists (Table 2 and Table 3 on the Ministry of Health drug checking webpage), or to use a method they are not currently licensed for, they will need to satisfy the Director-General of Health (or delegated authority) that the technology is safe to implement and fit for its intended purpose. Licensed providers must show that their workforce is competent to use the drug checking testing methodology before they will receive approval. New testing methods can only be used by a licensed provider once written approval is received from the drug checking licensing team and the provider is licensed to do so.

Complete the following information for any requested additions of drug checking testing methods to a provider’s licence.

Source: New Zealand Ministry of Health

If a licensed provider wishes to use a service delivery model not on the approved list (Table 1 of the Ministry of Health drug checking webpage), or wishes to use a model not currently licensed for, they will need to satisfy the Director-General of Health (or delegated authority) that the model is safe to implement and fit for its intended purpose. Licensed providers must show that their workforce is competent to use a service delivery model before they will receive approval. New models can only be used by a licensed provider once written approval is received from the drug checking licensing team and the provider is licensed to do so.

Complete this form for any requested addition of drug checking service models to a provider’s licence.

Source: New Zealand Ministry of Health

Summary

Group A streptococcus (GAS) bacteria is a pervasive pathogen, spread through airborne droplets and skin-to-skin contact, that may lead to invasive group A streptococcus (iGAS), post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis (PSGN), acute rheumatic fever (ARF) or rheumatic heart disease (RHD). The onset of iGAS is often sudden, and the disease progresses rapidly. It can result in serious health outcomes such as loss of limbs or severe scarring, brain damage, hearing loss or learning disabilities. Without timely treatment, sepsis can rapidly lead to tissue damage, organ failure and death. 

People with socio-economic disadvantage are at greater risk of GAS and iGAS infections; the prevalence of GAS infections is commonly associated with low-quality and inadequate housing. Lack of access to clean water, homelessness and drug injection are other contributing risk factors. 

Physiologically, the role of GAS infections in pharyngitis is well understood, likely because of its role in the sequalae of ARF. However, there is increasing recognition of the role of GAS skin infections in the development of iGAS, ARF, RHD and PSGN.

Since 2022, the number of iGAS cases reported has increased internationally, including in New Zealand. Case rates have increased beyond those recorded in 2017 (pre-COVID-19 pandemic), and cases in 2023 showed large ethnic disparities. In 2023, the decision was made to start the process to make iGAS a notifiable disease in New Zealand. The Deputy Director of Public Health commissioned this evidence brief in anticipation of iGAS being made a notifiable disease in 2024.

The brief reports on a systematic review of the prevalence of GAS skin infections in cases of iGAS, ARF, RHD and PSGN. It also reports on a scoping review of the evidence on risk factors and prevention of GAS skin infections and provides an analysis of knowledge gaps within the current evidence to inform future research priorities.

Source: New Zealand Ministry of Health

Source: New Zealand Ministry of Health

In 2023 a series of extreme weather events occurred, including Cyclone Gabrielle on 13 February. The Ministry of Health (the Ministry) commissioned research Te Weu me Te Wai – Research into health and wellbeing impacts of adverse weather conditions to understand how health and the health system was impacted by these events. The research was completed in July 2024 and was undertaken as a partnership between two community organisations, Te Weu Tairāwhiti and Sustainable Hawke’s Bay, with the University of Auckland. The research examines the impacts from the extreme weather on the health and wellbeing of affected communities and how the health system responded. 

The researchers have provided extensive recommendations for the health system, health providers, the emergency response sector and to prepare for further impacts from climate change. These recommendations have been informed by detailed analysis of the experiences of 143 whānau Māori, Pacific Peoples, disabled people, youth and the elderly who resided in Te Tairāwhiti and the Hawke’s Bay. These participants were first responders, heath workers, council staff, and members of the public. Key findings included:

• bolstering localised community capacity, capability, and connections will enable communities to support themselves and control emergency responses, increasing the likelihood of improved health and wellbeing outcomes after an extreme weather event
• strengthening the connection and presence of health services within local communities is likely to improve health and wellbeing outcomes 
• government disaster procurement policy needs to include health and wellbeing as an outcome where the impact of damage to infrastructure such as telecommunications, power, water, transport, internet and human resources has on healthcare services and outcomes is incorporated.

Read the report

Source: New Zealand Ministry of Health

In June 2023, the Public Health Agency, within the Ministry of Health, commissioned research and evaluation agency Verian to undertake a series of research projects and population surveys into attitudes and behaviours related to public health measures following the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of COVID-19 on New Zealanders’ attitudes and behaviours towards public health measures and use this knowledge to better prepare the Ministry, and other decision makers, for future pandemics and other major health threats.

This work is split into two parts, each with two reports. The first part is two repeated behavioural surveys to monitor adherence to public health measures over time, covering both intention and actual behaviour. The second part is a qualitative analysis to explore drivers of COVID-19 related public health behaviours, and a report to quantify the impact of barriers and other factors on adherence to public health measures. All four reports can be found at COVID-19 behavioural science research. 

This report, Measuring public health behaviours and intentions – wave two is the second report based on repeat surveys. To inform this report, 1,642 people were surveyed online and 200 people were surveyed over the phone, between 20 May 2024 and 9 June 2024. Māori and Pacific peoples were over-sampled to ensure sufficient sample sizes for analysis. Interviewees came from different parts of New Zealand, urban and rural, and a range of occupations and living situations.

Overall, the report suggests that in June 2024, a smaller proportion of New Zealanders were following public health advice to protect themselves and others from respiratory disease when compared to November 2023.

The reports reflect the beliefs of those people surveyed and not the views of the Ministry of Health.

The report will help enhance the Ministry’s understanding of people’s attitudes to public health measures and provides ideas on how to communicate important public health information and support people taking protective and preventative measures.