Duncan Garner: Diabetes brought me to the brink – now I'm changing my life
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Scoop
18 hours ago
- Scoop
Calling On Kiwis To Share Their Stories This World Drowning Prevention Day
Water Safety New Zealand and ACC are calling on New Zealanders to take part in World Drowning Prevention Day on Friday 25 July - an annual advocacy event organised by the World Health Organisation - by sharing personal stories and raising awareness about the everyday actions that can prevent drowning, prevent injury, and save lives. This year's global theme, 'Your Story Can Save A Life' encourages people across Aotearoa and around the world to speak openly about their experiences in, on, or around the water - from close calls to life-saving moments, and the lessons that shape our decisions. In sharing our stories, we learn from the experience of others. This can save lives. Some stories are well known, including that of Water Safety New Zealand's own Rob Hewitt (Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Rangikoianake), an ex-navy diver with his own harrowing tale of surviving 75 hours lost at sea. Rob now dedicates much of his time advocating for water safety, with a particular focus on Māori and Pasifika communities, generously sharing his story to draw attention to the necessity of Water Safety and having an unwavering respect for the water. Interventions Lead at Water Safety New Zealand, Esther Hone (Ngāpuhi), has her own story of survival and of loss. She was drawn to a career in water safety after losing a friend when boating on a lake when she was younger. 'That experience had a dramatic impact and made me understand how quickly things can go wrong - particularly in open water environments where conditions can change so quickly.' Advertisement - scroll to continue reading In 2024, New Zealand recorded 74 drowning fatalities - the lowest annual toll since 2018 and a 14% drop from the 10-year average. While the reduction is encouraging, Water Safety New Zealand say the risks of preventable drowning remain very real. An average of 86 New Zealanders drown every year. Many fatalities involve preventable behaviour such as not wearing a lifejacket, entering the water alone, consuming alcohol or other drugs, and underestimating conditions. New Zealand drowning facts: Men continue to be overrepresented - 73% of drownings in 2024 (54 out of 74 total drownings) were male adults (aged 25 and above) 90% of craft-related drownings in 2024 were not wearing a life jacket 88% of 2024 drownings were adults Nearly 20% of drownings in 2024 were at one of NZ's highest risk drowning locations. 'We are making good progress, particularly with our tamariki, but every life lost is one too many,' says Esther. 'World Drowning Prevention Day provides an opportunity to speak up, share our stories, and help shape a culture where water safety is second nature.' ACC injury prevention leader James Whitaker says World Drowning Prevention Day is an opportunity to be more mindful of the risks in and around the water. 'A drowning is a devastating event for any whānau and community, and our hearts go out to every family who has lost a loved one,' he says. 'Most of these tragic drownings are preventable if we take the time to consider the risks.' Whitaker stressed the importance of following the Five Ways to Survive – New Zealand's Water Safety Code. 'Far too many New Zealanders are drowning, and these events are preventable,' he says. 'If we take time to assess the risks and make smart choices before we jump in, we can keep on doing the things we love.' New Zealanders are invited to take part in World Drowning Prevention Day by sharing their own water safety experiences to help reinforce that the power is in prevention. How to take part: Use World Drowning Prevention Day as a reason to post your water story or safety message on social media to contribute to a culture of water safety in New Zealand. Share an experience, life lesson or thought around water safety, reminding New Zealanders that the power is in prevention Use hashtags #WorldDrowningPreventionDay, #WaterSafetyNZ, and #ShareYourStory Access free downloadable toolkits and digital assets from 'Whether it's a national story or a moment from your local beach - what you share can save lives,' says Esther. 'Let's connect, share, and work together to solve drowning in New Zealand and create a culture of water safety. The power is in prevention'. Notes: People who overestimate their ability, ignore weather forecasts, don't wear lifejackets, or think swimming skills are all they need to stay safe – are people who put their lives at risk around water. The five points of New Zealand's Water Safety Code – Five Ways to Survive were developed based on drowning and injury data, and global evidence of what works to save lives: Water Safety New Zealand also notes that the first reading of the Life Jackets for Children and Young Persons Bill will likely take place in July. Again, another important moment - and an opportunity to both express our support for the bill and express the need for one consistent national rule around lifejacket use for all ages, particularly given the number of adult drownings where no life jacket was worn. About Water Safety New Zealand Water Safety New Zealand is the lead agent for water safety and drowning prevention in New Zealand. For more than 75 years, we've made it our mission to support people and places to be safer around water. We do this through focused data science, leadership, education, and advocacy. As a charity, we are dedicated to making New Zealand's waterways safer for everyone.
The Spinoff
a day ago
- The Spinoff
It's time to shut the alcohol industry out of health policy in Aotearoa
Alcohol is our most harmful drug, yet industry groups have inside access during the development of alcohol harm reduction strategy, where they can put pressure on officials to water down policy advice. It has to stop, argues Steve Randerson. Most New Zealanders would be shocked to learn the alcohol industry is regularly invited to help shape our national health policies on alcohol. But that's exactly what's happening. Recent information uncovered by RNZ through the Official Information Act shows senior health officials in the Public Health Agency are 'expected' to work directly with alcohol industry representatives. Who set this expectation or what the expectations entail is unclear, but the information reveals the agency's diligent response. Regular interactions occurred between four separate industry associations representing spirits, wine, beer and hospitality and the Public Health Agency, part of the Ministry of Health. A group manager with responsibilities for alcohol harm reduction, Ross Bell, emerged as the main conduit for contact. The interactions included regular meetings, ongoing email contact and consultation on alcohol harm reduction plans. The alcohol industry had been involved in the development of an action plan for foetal alcohol spectrum disorder. All four industry groups were invited to give input to a new guiding framework for spending the $16 million alcohol levy, a public fund meant to reduce harm; in contrast, to our knowledge, there was no opportunity for most of Aotearoa's major public health organisations that work on alcohol to contribute to the framework. One industry representative questioned a government refresh of New Zealand's outdated guidance on lower-risk drinking levels, which some other countries now set considerably lower to reflect current evidence of the health risks of alcohol. The partially completed project was subsequently put on hold. While the pause was described as an internal ministry decision, current systems leave ministry staff exposed to potential industry pressure and there is a concerning lack of transparency around possible industry influence. For instance, alcohol industry feedback on the alcohol levy framework was redacted from the OIA documents supplied to RNZ. There's a reason this matters. Alcohol is our most harmful drug. It causes cancer and foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, and costs our country more than $9 billion a year in health and social harm. The damage is sustained by our lack of effective safeguards around the supply and promotion of alcohol, such as online marketing and the higher numbers of outlets in communities at greater risk of harm. Communities around the country have long fought to have more say on where and how alcohol is sold, while well-funded alcohol industry groups have doggedly opposed such changes in our courts, media and parliament. In this context the inside access alcohol industry representatives are enjoying during the development of alcohol harm reduction strategy is disheartening. Industry involvement in public health policy isn't just bad practice. It's a major conflict of interest. This is why Health Coalition Aotearoa . Almost half the alcohol sold in Aotearoa is consumed in heavy drinking sessions, while lighter alcohol consumption also increases the risk of cancer and other diseases. Any steps that broadly reduce these harms will impact alcohol industry profits, creating an inescapable incentive to undermine or block effective change. A senior health official put it bluntly: 'In my experience… these alcohol interests have zero interest in reducing harm (or sales of booze) and a huge purse to fund their lawyers.' Despite this, the government continues to expect the alcohol industry to have a seat at the table, where they can put pressure on officials to water down policy advice to ministers well before the public has a say. In contrast, New Zealand is required to protect our tobacco control public health policies from the commercial interests of the tobacco industry – since 2005 we have been party to the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. This agreement recognises the 'irreconcilable conflict' between tobacco industry profits and public health. The same logic applies to alcohol – yet no such protections exist. The Ministry of Health and Customs have continued to interact with tobacco industry representatives for tobacco regulation purposes, but one improvement of Aotearoa signing the framework convention is they now both maintain a public register of these interactions, which should only occur where strictly necessary. Other parts of the government may not have been so scrupulous, however. NZ First politicians have been reported to be closely affiliated with industry executives, and several coalition government ministers have appeared to use similar arguments as tobacco industry representatives to defend their repeal of the tobacco endgame measures in the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990, suggesting a common script. While the New Zealand government is yet to fully implement its responsibilities under the framework convention, it is a strong step in the right direction, and Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall has proposed legislation to promote stronger compliance. We urgently need a similarly stringent approach for alcohol and await new rules for engagement with the alcohol lobby being considered by the Ministry of Health. The World Health Organization's Global Alcohol Action Plan 2022-2030 is clear: governments should protect public policy to reduce alcohol harms from commercial and other vested interests that undermine health. Most New Zealanders agree – a recent poll found 71% believe the alcohol industry should have no role in alcohol policy development. This strong public support should give politicians the courage to draw clear boundaries around industry involvement in policy intended to reduce alcohol harm.
Scoop
a day ago
- Scoop
Pharmac Continues To Engage With Consumers
Associate Minister of Health Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes the establishment of Pharmac's new consumer working group to help Pharmac help reset how it works with health consumers. "For many New Zealanders, funding for pharmaceuticals is life or death, or the difference between a life of pain and suffering or living freely,' Mr Seymour says. 'My expectation is that Pharmac should have good processes to ensure that people with an illness, their carers and family, can provide input to decision-making processes. This is part of the ACT-National Coalition Agreement. 'Pharmac hosted a Consumer Engagement Workshop in March. Patients and advocates voiced their hopes at resetting the patient – Pharmac relationship. Pharmac published a report on the findings from the workshop. 'The report recommended that the Board invite workshop participants, in association with the wider consumer-patient representative community, to select a working group. The group would work with Pharmac's Board and management to reset the relationship between Pharmac and the consumer/representative community. 'The patient advocacy community selected Dr Malcolm Mulholland to lead the consumer working group. He has worked with consumers to select the other members of the working group. These members represent patients with a wide range of health conditions. They are named at the end of this release.' 'We've waited a long time for this opportunity. The work that Pharmac does is vitally important for the health of patients and their families, and this is why getting Pharmac to work as well as it can, will be the focus of the working group,' Dr Mulholland says. 'The consumer working group met for the first time yesterday to confirm the approach for the reset programme and agree the first set of actions. I look forward to hearing about their progress,' Mr Seymour says. 'I'm pleased to see the Board take the opportunity to continue to prioritise expanding opportunities and access for patients and their families by expanding access to more medicines for more groups. 'The working group reflects our commitment to a more adaptable and patient-centred approach. It follows my letters of expectations, the consumer engagement workshop, last year's Medicines Summit, and the acceptance of Patient Voice Aotearoa's White Paper as actions to achieve this. 'The Government is doing its part. Last year we allocated Pharmac its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, and a $604 million uplift to give Pharmac the financial support it needs to carry out its functions - negotiating the best deals for medicine for New Zealanders.' The consumer working group members are: Dr Malcolm Mulholland MNZM – Patient Voice Aotearoa Libby Burgess MNZM – Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition Tim Edmonds – Leukaemia and Blood Cancer NZ Chris Higgins – Rare Disorders NZ Francesca Holloway – Arthritis NZ Trent Lash – Heartbeats Charitable Trust Gerard Rushton – The Meningitis Foundation Rachel Smalley MNZM – The Medicine Gap Tracy Tierney – Epilepsy NZ Deon York – Haemophilia NZ
