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RNZ News
3 days ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Advocacy group calls for free dental care as families prioritise food and rent
An advocacy group is calling for free, universal dental care. Photo: 123RF Dozens of people at a public meeting in Wellington have told of the desperate efforts they or others have taken trying to get dental treatment for rotting teeth. Advocacy group 'Dental for All' is taking its urgent message for free, universal dental care around the country - kicking off its roadshow this week. The group points to recent reports which found that 40 percent of New Zealanders cannot afford dental care and that the current dental system is costing the country billions of dollars annually in lost productivity and social impacts. Roadshow speaker and Auckland Action Against Poverty (AAAP) coordinator Agnes Magele spoke of the numerous hoops she'd had to jump through in the past to try and get the government dental grant - describing the process as dehumanising and humiliating. Magele said she still needed treatment and was currently in pain, but could not afford to get her teeth fixed. "I have half a broken tooth on one side, and other side I have the same ... I had to yank one of my teeth out by myself. "At the moment I have a gum infection, but I haven't been to do anything about it and I'm working through it. I have to." She said it was tough, but she could not afford to take a day off and had to prioritise her kids and her bills over her teeth. "It's hard, it's really hard. I have to put my oral health last, and everything else first." Magele said her job involved campaigning on behalf of others, but losing teeth meant she had lost some of her confidence. She said free dental care would be liberating and would help restore that. Those at Tuesday night's meeting in Wellington told RNZ about how they found themselves avoiding the dentist after turning 18 because the cost was too high. One person said he put off visiting the dentist for a decade. "It costs a heck of a lot of money ... so it wasn't a priority. But in that time, stuff stacks up." Another person, a doctor, said she had seen many severe "downstream effects" of untreated dental health, such as brain and heart infections. "It's very debilitating at the least and deadly at the most, for something so preventable." A teacher said despite access to free dental treatment, she still saw the shame around teeth for some of the kids she taught - and also for whanau. "You see it in families, in parents that don't want to come to parent-teacher interviews because they're whakamā or ashamed about what their smile might look like or how they communicate." Oral health therapist and speaker on Tuesday's panel, Lateisha Chant, specialised in dental care for tamariki/children, but said nearly every day in her clinic a parent would ask her for help. "They'll say, 'I haven't been to the dentist in so long, I just can't afford it, I know that I've got holes, I've had this tooth that's been really sore.'" She said often these whanau members would put up with painful decay, putting food and rent ahead of treatment. "That's the reality for so many people that I come across and also within my own family growing up." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Fox News
28-06-2025
- Health
- Fox News
Yale scholarship discriminating based on race, civil rights complaint alleges
EXCLUSIVE – Yale University is facing a civil rights complaint due to its affiliation with a training program that restricts eligibility to non-White applicants. The Equal Protection Project of the Legal Insurrection Foundation is filing a civil rights complaint against the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP) and Yale School of Medicine "for their administration and promotion" of the REACH (Recognizing and Eliminating Disparities in AddictiThe program makes clear that applicants must be U.S. on through Culturally informed Healthcare) and come from "a racial/ethnic minoritized population," including "Black, African, or African American, non-Caucasian Hispanic or Latinx, American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander." "Regardless of AAAP and Yale's reasons for offering, promoting, and administering such a discriminatory fellowship, they are violating Title VI by doing so. It does not matter if the recipient of federal funding discriminates in order to advance a benign 'intention' or 'motivation,'" the complaint states. REACH selects scholars for a year-long training session that aims to improve the care of racial and ethnic groups or "underrepresented minorities" with "substance use disorders." REACH scholars receive up to $104,000 and travel accommodations and have access to mentors. The fellowship eligibility criteria are discriminatory, the civil rights complaint argues. It argues further that since REACH is a health program, it violates section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act and, because Yale and AAAP receive federal funds, they are subject to violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Yale School of Medicine's website describes the REACH Program as "a year-long training program designed to supplement the education of medical students, residents, fellows, and allied health professional trainees in ways to improve health outcomes for racial and ethnic underrepresented minority patients with substance use disorders." "The overall goal of the REACH training program is to: (1) increase the overall number of racial and ethnic underrepresented minority (URM) addiction specialists in the Addiction Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine workforce, and (2) increase the number of addiction specialists adequately trained to work with racial and ethnic URM patients with substance use disorders." Per the Yale Daily News, the Ivy League institution received nearly $900 million in federal grants and contracts in the 2024 fiscal year to fund research and financial aid. Furthermore, most of Yale's federal funding came from the National Institutes of Health. The institution awarded a total of $643,720,557 in grants and contracts. Yale also received federal funding from the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Education, according to the Yale Daily News report. "AAAP and Yale's explicit race, ethnicity, and/or national origin program requirements are presumptively invalid, and since there is no compelling government justification for such invidious discrimination, their offering, promotion, and administration of these programs violates state and civil rights statutes and constitutional protection guarantees," the complaint states. William A. Jacobson, founder of the Equal Protection Project, told Fox News Digital that "HHS provided a grant to AAAP, which partnered with Yale, to improve minority community health outcomes." "Such programming must never be permitted to cross the line into discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin. This line, unfortunately, appears to have been breached at AAAP and Yale by racially-restrictive eligibility criteria," he added. Neither Yale nor the AAAP immediately responded to Fox News Digital's request for comment. The civil rights complaint comes after President Donald Trump's feud with Harvard over alleged discriminatory admissions policies and antisemitism on campus. The Trump administration reportedly summoned the Department of Justice to investigate whether Harvard's admissions policies comply with a Supreme Court ruling that ended affirmative action admission policies.
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Is Archana Puran Singh having marital issues with Parmeet Sethi? Actress responds to rumours
Lately, rumours about Archana Puran Singh and her husband Parmeet Sethi's marriage have been circulating on social media, piquing the interest of fans and followers. Several viewers even left comments on her vlogging channel questioning whether there were troubles in their relationship. Confronting these rumours directly, Archana used her vlog to respond candidly and clarify the truth, putting an end to the ongoing speculation. Is Archana Puran Singh having marital issues with Parmeet Sethi? Archana shared that a fan had posted a lengthy comment suggesting they felt some tension between her and Parmeet Sethi. The fan described them as a beautiful couple and said they would be saddened if there were any issues in their marriage. Archana explained that although they do have arguments and talk through their problems, there is no tension between them. Archana Puran Singh's family and vlogs Archana Puran Singh is married to Parmeet Sethi, and the couple has two sons, Aaryamann and Ayushmaan. A few months ago, the family started a YouTube vlogging channel with the tagline "AAAP ka Parivaar!" On the channel, they share a lot about their lives and also take on food challenges around Mumbai. All about Archana Puran Singh's work She is recognised for her comedic performances in numerous Bollywood films and for serving as a judge on popular comedy shows like The Kapil Sharma Show and Comedy Circus. She is also well-known for her memorable supporting roles in movies such as the romantic hit Kuch Kuch Hota Hai as Miss Braganza.
The Guardian
10-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Investing in climate adaptation is not just good for the planet, it's good business
Among the many shocks currently facing the international development community is the new direction of the US administration on climate, and the implications worldwide for mitigation and adaptation efforts. This is not uncharted territory. While a withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement is undoubtedly a setback, it no longer carries the same level of disruption as it did. The global community has become more resilient and will continue to advance climate action. We are hopeful because much has changed since the first Trump administration. Although climate shocks have become much bigger (just ask Los Angeles), so too has the response. New technologies are being harnessed to predict extreme weather events and build stronger cities and farming communities. Around the world, resilient infrastructure is the hot new investment class, with more than $2tn (£1.6tn) in assets under management. Investment is pouring into renewable energy, green transport and smart agriculture in an effort to both slow down the accumulation of heat-trapping emissions and adapt to our warming planet. The benefits of taking early action are well understood, even if the needs outpace the funding for it. Africa was an early champion of climate adaptation. That is because 17 of the 20 countries most vulnerable to climate change are on our continent. We wanted to move beyond disaster management to forward-looking strategies that reduced our exposure to climate risks. We sought solutions to protect our people and businesses from ever-more destructive weather extremes. Adaptation is not simply a means of minimising the damage inflicted by extreme weather, although that alone would justify the investment. Done properly, it can transform economies, as well as strengthen them against natural disasters. Climate adaptation is a framework for protecting infrastructure, securing food systems and creating new business and job opportunities. And it is being aided by a thriving market in climate solutions – from weather analytics and drought-resistant crops to green finance and parametric insurance against weather-related events, which pays out claims based on a predetermined trigger such as wind speed to help communities recover faster from natural disasters. These are the foundations that allow our communities and businesses to flourish. Africa is proof that investing in climate resilience works. The continent's leading initiative in this area – the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Programme (AAAP) – has already channelled more than $15bn to strengthen essential systems against climate shocks. These funds are helping to secure the adaptability and livelihoods of nearly 60 million vulnerable people in 40 countries. Almost one million jobs have been created in the process. Kenya was the first country in Africa to adopt a National Adaptation Plan. Its dependence on rain-fed agriculture, which accounts for a large proportion of livelihoods and economic activity, makes it especially vulnerable to droughts and floods. Yet decisive action on climate adaptation has transformed these vulnerabilities into opportunities to accelerate green growth. Local entrepreneurs have pioneered solar-powered irrigation, and public-private partnerships are investing in water, sanitation and renewable energy. The country is a leader in geothermal power, which supplies nearly half of its energy needs. These achievements exemplify adaptation's dual role as a protective shield against destructive events and a catalyst for sustainable development. Embedding resilience into public policy, urban planning and financial markets can safeguard communities and assets while stimulating growth. Robust seawalls, for example, protect ports and international trade. Weather analytics and early-warning systems save millions of lives every year from impending weather disasters. Regenerative farming techniques revive degraded soils and increase crop yields. Nature-based solutions for restoring wetlands and woodlands reduce the impact of flooding and hurricanes. Such measures often pay for themselves many times over, a 'resilience dividend' that compounds the economic and social benefits of preventive actions. These benefits multiply when governments, businesses and multilateral institutions collaborate to integrate adaptation into their decision-making. This resilience dividend is real. It would be even greater if funding for climate adaptation matched Africa's needs. The Global Center on Adaptation estimates these needs at more than $50bn a year, whereas actual funding is only a fraction of that. Most climate finance comes from multilateral development banks, with hardly any private-sector involvement. This is a shame because there are huge opportunities. The Global Center on Adaptation, through its dual headquarters in Rotterdam and Nairobi, is ensuring that adaptation solutions are co-created where they are needed most. The World Economic Forum estimates the market for climate adaptation solutions could be as much as $2tn a year. Companies that develop cutting-edge solutions for climate adaptation – such as parametric insurance, weather analytics and water-efficient infrastructure – will gain a competitive advantage in a world where demand for these products and services is only likely to grow. Investing in adaptation makes good business sense. It is the smart thing to do. Climate denialism should not blind investors and governments to the very real opportunities on their doorstep. William Ruto is President of Kenya and Patrick Verkooijen is chief executive of the Global Center on Adaptation
