Pacific News In Brief For 20 August
The Vanuatu Daily Post is reporting the country's Ministry of Health has declared an outbreak of whooping cough.
Over the past two weeks, the Ministry has recorded an increase in suspected cases.
The paper reported that laboratory testing has confirmed that seven out of eight samples sent to the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory in Australia tested positive for Bordetella pertussis.
All confirmed cases involved unvaccinated children under the age of five.
West Papua - food
A supplementary food programme has been launched for pregnant women and toddlers in West Papua.
Indonesia's Antara news agency reports the collaboration between the Jayapura City Government in Papua and UNICEF aims to reduce stunting.
Running from 2025 to 2026, the program will target nine priority health centres and posts.
It will also include vitamin A distribution, routine growth monitoring, and the use of electronic data systems to track effectiveness.
Papua New Guinea - flooding
Food gardens in Bosset Village, in Papua New Guinea's Middle Fly District, have been severely damaged by three months of flooding.
The Post-Courier reported the crops such as kaukau, cassava, and bananas have been affected, as well as sago, the staple food for Middle Fly communities.
Flooding has swamped the sago areas, making harvesting difficult.
The starch content has dropped and residents say it can take an entire day to find one suitable palm.
Bosset Village has faced these challenges for years, often paddling long distances to neighboring areas such as Wangawanga and Aiambak to process sago.
The Bosset community has conducted flood assessments and is now appealing to authorities and stakeholders for urgent assistance.
Fiji - social media
Fiji is looking at banning social media for under 16-year-olds, amid rising concerns over misinformation and online harm.
The state broadcaster reported Communications Minister Manoa Kamikamica believes false content has contributed to youth suicide.
Kamikamica said Fiji is in the early stages of reviewing social media laws, with potential restrictions and regulations likely to be debated within the next year.
He said the Online Service Commission lacks clout and reforms will be considered alongside new legislation.
Fiji - tourism
Tourism in Fiji jumped 7.1 percent last month compared to July 2024.
The Fiji Times reported Bureau of Statistics data showing there were 99,311 tourists for the month.
Most visitors came for holidays or to visit family and friends, while a minority visited for business purposes.
Australians made up the bulk of the tourists, followed by New Zealanders, Americans, Europeans and Chinese.
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Otago Daily Times
9 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Alcohol lobbyists' tactics revealed
By Guyon Espiner of RNZ Alcohol lobbyists pushed health officials not to raise taxes, curb supply or cut industry sponsorship of sport - despite those measures being endorsed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as among the most effective ways to reduce alcohol harm. The tactics are laid bare in documents the Ministry of Health tried to keep secret, only releasing them after RNZ appealed to the Ombudsman. They also show industry efforts to shape a government strategy to combat Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Officials handed the draft FASD plan to alcohol companies for feedback - while keeping it from the public. Spirits New Zealand dismissed estimates that up to 3000 babies are born with the disorder each year as ''not credible'' and attacked a taxpayer-funded ad campaign from 2019, even though it won five awards. Health Coalition Aotearoa said the industry should have no role in shaping alcohol policy. But the Ministry of Health's deputy director-general Andrew Old defended its engagement, insisting companies had no special access. ''They certainly haven't had any particular special treatment or back door into the ministry. It's been a deliberate, structured approach. They've had quarterly meetings with the team,'' Mr Old said. ''I can absolutely and categorically say that there is no veto power. So, if the industry says 'we don't want to see this', that has no bearing on the outcome. It is a view that is considered alongside a range of other views.'' Mr Old accepted the alcohol industry was motivated by profit. ''I also would hope that, in doing that, they don't want to be doing harm,'' he said. ''There's clearly a conflict. But, to my mind, it's not an irreconcilable conflict that would mean that we should just never talk to them.'' Alcohol lobbyists were also given a draft investment strategy on how to spend the Alcohol Levy, a ring-fenced fund of $16.6 million for alcohol harm reduction measures. The documents include an email from Spirits NZ to the Ministry of Health, saying there was intense interest in the Alcohol Levy, which is funded from a small tax on sales - equivalent to less than 1c on a standard can of beer. ''My members with global links are seeking advice from their HQ's from London to Louisville, Kentucky - yes, this is how important this matter is to them,'' a lobbyist said in a November 2024 email to the ministry. The documents show industry concern the Alcohol Levy would be spent on programmes based on the WHO's Safer strategy, which says that, globally, a person dies every 10 seconds due to alcohol-related causes. ''The WHO's Safer strategies include measures like restricting availability and raising excise taxes,'' a submission from the Brewers Association says. ''These broad-based initiatives are generally seen as reducing consumption overall and not targeting harmful consumption.'' The Brewers Association said there was an ''overemphasis on restrictions'' in the WHO guidelines. ''Metrics tied to Safer principles could incentivise programmes that focus excessively on punitive measures, such as limiting availability and marketing, rather than collaborative, education-based harm-reduction approaches.'' The Brewers Association also warned against using the Alcohol Levy to fund ''controversial'' programmes it believed would not reduce harmful consumption. The documents, which the Ministry of Health tried to withhold using a section of the OIA designed to protect advice between ministers and officials until overruled by the Ombudsman, also include industry critique of the FASD strategy. Spirits New Zealand, which represents Asahi, Bacardi, Diageo, Lion, Moet-Hennessy and Pernod Ricard, warned against launching action on FASD without knowing what the prevalence was. It took issue with estimates, based on international studies and expert opinion, that 3%-5% of babies - 1800 to 3000 every year - are born with FASD. ''This is simply not credible and is similar to the situation that existed when the last plan was developed in 2016,'' the lobbyists said. Advocacy group FASD-CAN was concerned the alcohol industry doubted the prevalence of FASD. ''Are they saying, 'OK, it's all right for 500 babies to be born, but not 1800,'' chairwoman Leigh Henderson asked. To try to ''downplay it in that way is just callous and not recognising the level of the problem''. In a statement, Spirits NZ chief executive Robert Brewer ''categorically'' denied downplaying the extent of FASD. Ms Henderson said the motivation of the industry was clear, given its opposition during the 20-year battle to get mandatory pregnancy warning labels on alcohol. The spirits industry said it supported targeted programmes, but the draft FASD strategy was too broad. It raised the ad campaign ''Pre-Testie Bestie'' as an example, saying its ''ultimate audience seemed to be any woman of child-bearing age who may or may not be having sex and who may or may not be pregnant''. The Pre-Testie Bestie ad campaign won five Axis Awards. Mr Brewer said hazardous drinking had declined over the past four years in New Zealand to just 16% of adults.
Scoop
a day ago
- Scoop
Pacific News In Brief For 20 August
Vanuatu - whooping cough The Vanuatu Daily Post is reporting the country's Ministry of Health has declared an outbreak of whooping cough. Over the past two weeks, the Ministry has recorded an increase in suspected cases. The paper reported that laboratory testing has confirmed that seven out of eight samples sent to the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory in Australia tested positive for Bordetella pertussis. All confirmed cases involved unvaccinated children under the age of five. West Papua - food A supplementary food programme has been launched for pregnant women and toddlers in West Papua. Indonesia's Antara news agency reports the collaboration between the Jayapura City Government in Papua and UNICEF aims to reduce stunting. Running from 2025 to 2026, the program will target nine priority health centres and posts. It will also include vitamin A distribution, routine growth monitoring, and the use of electronic data systems to track effectiveness. Papua New Guinea - flooding Food gardens in Bosset Village, in Papua New Guinea's Middle Fly District, have been severely damaged by three months of flooding. The Post-Courier reported the crops such as kaukau, cassava, and bananas have been affected, as well as sago, the staple food for Middle Fly communities. Flooding has swamped the sago areas, making harvesting difficult. The starch content has dropped and residents say it can take an entire day to find one suitable palm. Bosset Village has faced these challenges for years, often paddling long distances to neighboring areas such as Wangawanga and Aiambak to process sago. The Bosset community has conducted flood assessments and is now appealing to authorities and stakeholders for urgent assistance. Fiji - social media Fiji is looking at banning social media for under 16-year-olds, amid rising concerns over misinformation and online harm. The state broadcaster reported Communications Minister Manoa Kamikamica believes false content has contributed to youth suicide. Kamikamica said Fiji is in the early stages of reviewing social media laws, with potential restrictions and regulations likely to be debated within the next year. He said the Online Service Commission lacks clout and reforms will be considered alongside new legislation. Fiji - tourism Tourism in Fiji jumped 7.1 percent last month compared to July 2024. The Fiji Times reported Bureau of Statistics data showing there were 99,311 tourists for the month. Most visitors came for holidays or to visit family and friends, while a minority visited for business purposes. Australians made up the bulk of the tourists, followed by New Zealanders, Americans, Europeans and Chinese.
Scoop
a day ago
- Scoop
Cancer, Measles And Allergic Disease Research Funded In Latest HRC Grants Round
The Malaghan Institute has been awarded three Health Research Council grants, totalling $7.4M over five years, to improve cancer immunotherapies, protect vulnerable populations from measles outbreaks and investigate new therapeutic targets for eczema. Director Professor Kjesten Wiig says receiving three major grants from the Health Research Council at a time of heightened funding constraints is significant and recognises the calibre and relevance of the Malaghan Institute's science. 'These investments not only reflect confidence in the Malaghan's research across cancer, allergic and infectious diseases, but also the real-world impact of our work on the health of New Zealanders.' Faster CARs: Overcoming exhaustion to enhance cancer immunotherapies Building on the Malaghan Institute's ground-breaking CAR T-cell programme, the Perret team in the Weinkove Laboratory has recieved a $1.2 million project grant over three years to improve on this life-saving treatment. 'In Aotearoa's first CAR T-cell trial, our novel CAR T-cell therapy has shown promising safety and efficacy in people with relapsed lymphomas,' says Dr Rachel Perret. 'However, a known limitation of CAR T-cell therapies is that in some cases, cancers fail to respond, or relapse. This may be due to exhaustion of CAR T-cells during manufacture or inside the patient, due to a immunosuppressive environment around the tumour.' Cells, like people, can become exhausted if overworked or overstimulated, becoming less and less able to perform. However, unlike people, CAR T-cells can be tweaked to block the genes that signal this exhaustion, allowing them to continue fighting cancer for longer – which should also improve patient outcomes. 'This project will re-engineer CAR T-cells to silence genes linked to exhaustion and re-develop CAR T-cell manufacturing processes to enhance CAR T- cell fitness and shorten manufacturing times,' says Dr Perret. 'We expect the results to be applicable to many cancer types, and to be readily translated for the benefit of New Zealanders within our CAR T-cell clinical trial programme.' Providing equal protection for everyone against measles Herd immunity is how we as a population protect those who are immunocompromised or otherwise unable to get vaccinated (such as very young infants) against potentially life-threatening viruses like measles. When enough of the population are vaccinated (over 95% in the case of measles), this herd immunity effectively prevents viruses from spreading to our most vulnerable whānau. 'While the current measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is highly effective at protecting vaccinated individuals against these viruses, current vaccination rates are not high enough to provide this essential herd immunity to protect those who cannot be vaccinated,' says paediatric immunologist Dr Kuang Hsiao from Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, who is part of the research team. The MMR vaccine cannot be used in people with severely impaired immune systems and is not recommended in pregnant people. Also, MMR is less effective in infants, so is not routinely recommended before 12 months of age. In addition, Māori and Pacific communities are overrepresented among these vulnerable groups. For these populations, alternate protective options are required to prevent a measles outbreak. 'Evidence has shown that mRNA-based vaccines can be effective in these vulnerable individuals,' says the Malaghan's Professor Ian Hermans. 'With an international team involving clinicians, immunologists and Māori and Pacific researchers, we will develop an mRNA-based measles vaccine to give to vulnerable individuals in the event of an outbreak.' The research has been awarded an HRC Programme Grant, worth $5M over five years, and will bring together multiple organisations including the Malaghan, representing diverse areas of expertise and combining both fundamental research and public health. 'As part of this work, we will explore with Māori and Pacific communities' perceptions and beliefs about mRNA-based vaccines to support equitable access to the vaccine,' says Dr Hermans. Investigating novel treatment targets for atopic dermatitis Atopic dermatitis, or eczema, is a chronic skin allergic disease that affects a significant proportion of New Zealand's population. The disease can have a significant negative impact on a person's livelihood with symptoms varying from persistent itchiness, redness, dryness and inflammation. Current treatment options are largely immunosuppressants such as corticosteroids, which can cause side effects. While these treatments can help manage symptoms there are currently no effective therapies to prevent the disease from developing and relapsing. At the cellular level, one hallmark of atopic dermatitis is the chronic infiltration and persistence of immune cells called tissue resident memory T-cells. Normally, these cells are vital for protecting the skin from invading pathogens, but for individuals with atopic dermatitis these cells also contribute to the disease by promoting recurring inflammation even after the allergen has been cleared from the skin. The project, which has been awarded $1.2 million over three years, will be led by Dr Sotaro Ochiai, a Senior Research Fellow in the Ronchese Laboratory. The team will focus on better understanding these tissue resident memory T-cells identifying key genes and biological pathways that are essential for the establishment and maintenance of these cells in the skin. 'By understanding these mechanisms, we aim to identify new therapeutic targets to disrupt tissue resident memory T-cell survival or function and improve quality of life for those affected by this persistent and distressing condition,' says Dr Ochiai.
