A recently released report by the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Health Reform Implementation (MAC report), High-level assessment to support future focused health reform implementation assessed activity underway across the health system, designed to drive improved health outcomes for New Zealanders. The report recognised that whilst some progress has been made, there are critical areas that need to be prioritised and monitored to ensure that tangible improvements are being made.
The Director-General of Health has released a briefing to the Minister of Health which responds to the points raised in the MAC report. The Ministry of Health, Health New Zealand and Te Aka Whai Ora accept the key points in the MAC report and recognise that structural reform is largely complete, with continued progress being made across the sector. However, there remains much work to operationalise and embed changes, and to plan for true system transformation.
The briefing can be found here:
The Government has announced health targets for cancer treatment, child immunisation, emergency departments, and wait times for first specialist assessments and elective treatment.
By setting ambitious health targets, the Government will stabilise services and provide the focus needed to make improvements. It will be challenging for the sector and take time, but targets will help lift health system performance.
We know the difficulties the system faces – eg. the increasing complexity of delivering healthcare, workforce demands and an ageing population. These need to be addressed to improve access to services. It could take many years of focus to meet the targets.
Health New Zealand’s role is to look at ways to innovate and improve the delivery of health services that will make a difference to New Zealanders. It is expected to focus on improving performance in locations and services which have longer waits or low levels of achievement.
Clinical experts will be expected to provide commentary and advice on performance and what is being done to improve areas that are performing below expectations.
Health targets were in place from July 2007 to June 2020. They have previously supported all parts of the health system to be clear on priority areas and improve performance while maintaining clinical quality. They also support public accountability and greater trust and confidence in the health system.
Previous targets sometimes resulted in comparisons across 20 district health boards. New Zealand now has Health New Zealand as the national service provider. The targets will be reported nationally, regionally and by population groups where possible. They will take effect from 1 July 2024 with the first quarterly results available beginning with Quarter 1 2024/25.
The target programme will have an appropriate level of audit mechanisms to ensure there are no unintended consequences as a result of a focus on specific areas.
Monitoring of health targets will sit within a wider suite of monitoring on health system performance by the Ministry.
Find out more about the Health targets.
Health NZ | Te Whatu Ora has updated its Suicide Data Web Tool to include information from the Coroner’s Office about the number of confirmed suicides in 2019.
We acknowledge the devastating impact on whānau bereaved by this experience.
While the rates show an increase from 2018 to 2019, fluctuations in rates from year to year are common in suicide data, and we can only start to consider a trend over a five-to ten-year period.
Confirmed suicide rates generally follow the same pattern as suspected suicide rates, which has decreased since 2019. We expect a similar trajectory in the confirmed data.
A recent High Court judgment has kept in place directions issued to local authorities to fluoridate drinking water supplies.
The judgment has also directed the Director-General of Health to assess whether each of the directions for local authorities is a demonstrably justified limit on the right of persons in those districts to refuse medical treatment. That right is provided for in section 11 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990.
The Director-General will assess each direction as directed by the Judge. In the meantime, the Court has confirmed that each of those directions remain in place.
In June 2022, the Director-General directed 14 local authorities across New Zealand to fluoridate 19 drinking water supplies. This was the first time such directions were issued, following changes to the Health Act in 2021 that enabled the Director-General to make this decision.
This most recent judgment follows a judgment on a preliminary issue in November last year that found the Director-General made an error of law by not explicitly considering rights under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 in making a decision on each of those directions.
However, this most recent judgment found that the directions issued in 2022 will remain in place while the Director-General assesses the substantive consistency of the directions with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990.
The Ministry of Health will continue to update the local authorities that are under direction about the implications of the judgment and the outcome of the Bill of Rights Act assessments.
Following the leak of confidential Ministry information to an external third party last month, the Ministry of Health began an investigation to determine how this occurred.
We can now confirm that the individual responsible has been identified and no longer works at the Ministry.
“We take matters of integrity extremely seriously. Our job is to work to the direction of the government of the day. Any efforts to undermine this process erodes the strong values and ethics of the public service and the trust and confidence held in us by the public. I cannot stress how disappointing this has been,” said Dr Diana Sarfati, Director-General of Health.
The Ministry of Health | Manatū Hauora is progressing the changes needed to allow New Zealanders to buy cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine from pharmacies.
The Misuse of Drugs (Pseudoephedrine) Amendment Bill has been introduced, and changes to the Medicines Regulations made, to reclassify pseudoephedrine.
Once the changes are in effect, New Zealanders will be able to buy these medicines from a pharmacist. However, the timeframe for when people will be able to do this depends on when pharmaceutical suppliers can bring them back to the New Zealand market.
Medsafe is now seeking information from pharmaceutical companies regarding what applications they may submit. Medsafe will use an expedited process to evaluate the medicines as quickly as practicable:
Cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine were made prescription-only in 2011 to help prevent these medicines from being used in the manufacture of the Class A drug methamphetamine.
In the years since this change was made, cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine have effectively become unavailable in New Zealand. Meanwhile, the tighter controls have had a limited, temporary effect on the overall supply of methamphetamine as traders moved on to other supply pathways.
When cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine are available again, New Zealanders will only be able to buy these medicines following consultation with a New Zealand registered pharmacist. The pharmacist must record information and can give advice as appropriate, including to people who should not take pseudoephedrine for clinical reasons.
Medicines containing pseudoephedrine will still be controlled drugs. This means a licence will still be needed to import and/or export products containing pseudoephedrine. The border restrictions will remain unchanged, and the New Zealand Customs Service will retain its powers to seize illicit importations, and may prosecute. Importation without a licence is and will remain an offence under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975.
Cabinet papers and the regulatory impact statement can be found at:
The Ministry of Health | Manatū Hauora and the University of Waikato have signed a Memorandum of Understanding as a first step towards establishing a new medical school.
Director-General of Health, Dr Diana Sarfati and University of Waikato Vice-Chancellor, Professor Neil Quigley signed the MoU on 13 February 2024.
The Ministry and the University will now begin working through the initial steps to ensure that a new medical school meets our health system needs.
The two parties will work together on an outline of the approach, which will include a cost-benefit analysis and other key milestones and timeframes, for the Minister of Health Dr Shane Reti and Cabinet to consider in the months ahead.
The MoU is part of the Government’s commitment to training more doctors in New Zealand.
As chief steward of the health system, the Ministry of Health sets the strategic direction for the workforce, to support health agencies to address long-standing workforce challenges. This includes setting the strategic policy direction for the workforce, determining funding priorities, and ensuring New Zealand has the right legislation in place.
The signing of the MoU is part of a broader health workforce agenda, to ensure we have a sustainable, representative and responsive workforce to meet the health needs of New Zealanders.
Workforce is a priority in the six Pae Ora | Healthy Futures Strategies, which set the direction for the health system.
The Government Policy Statement for Health is also being developed, which will determine the health system priorities for a 3-year period, including priorities for workforce development.
Read the MoU between Ministry of Health | Manatū Hauora and the University of Waikato
February is Heart Health Awareness Month in New Zealand.
Heart disease remains the number one cause of death and a major cause of disability and other health problems in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is a general term used to describe any type of disorder that affects the heart.
Chief Clinical Advisor in Primary Care, Dr Anna Skinner says there are many ways to reduce your potential risk of getting heart disease:
‘Making healthy choices can reduce the risks of developing heart disease. By doing some of these, your heart will be healthier.’
Dr Skinner says there are some factors you can’t change that may impact your risk of getting heart disease, including family history, age, sex and ethnicity.
But she says by making healthy choices, the risks of heart disease are reduced in the long term.
‘It’s a no-brainer that we want our hearts to continue pumping properly. Being aware of the risk factors, and how to reduce them, is key to good health,’ says Dr Skinner.
The Briefings to the Incoming Minister of Health and Incoming Minister for Mental Health (BIMs) are being publicly released today.
All public sector agencies and Crown Entities are required to produce a BIM following a general election.
The briefings provide the Ministers with information on the Ministry of Health’s role, purpose and organisational structure. They also give an overview of health and mental health in New Zealand, and outline current issues and opportunities in these portfolios.
These documents are being proactively released to promote openness and transparency in how the Ministry of Health serves our Ministers.
You can read the BIMs on the Ministry of Health’s Briefings to Incoming Ministers webpage.
The seller of the fake cure, Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS), Roger Blake, has been sentenced to 10 months and 2 weeks imprisonment (with leave to apply for home detention) for manufacturing, selling, advertising and possessing unapproved medicines, and for obstruction and making false statements to a Medsafe investigator.
Mr Blake advertised and sold Miracle Mineral Solution products. MMS is a chemical solution which, when swallowed, contains chlorine dioxide, a powerful bleach typically used for industrial water treatment or bleaching textiles, pulp, and paper.
Mr Blake claimed that ingesting MMS could treat, prevent, and cure COVID-19. Medsafe, however, had not approved MMS for treatment of COVID-19, or for any other use. Rather, in prior official warning statements, Medsafe had strongly urged consumers not to purchase or use MMS for any reason.
Medsafe has an important role to protect the public from harm from unsafe products that claim to treat or cure disease.
“Drinking MMS is the same as drinking bleach and can cause dangerous side effects, including severe vomiting, diarrhoea, and life-threatening low blood pressure. We strongly encourage people to only go to trusted sources, such as your doctor, to get reliable information", says Derek Fitzgerald, Medsafe Compliance Manager.
Before marketing MMS as a cure for COVID-19, Mr Blake marketed MMS as a miracle cure-all for dozens of other serious diseases and disorders, such as cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, and leukemia, even though Medsafe had not approved MMS for any therapeutic purpose.
“Mr Blake put the public’s health at risk by selling this fake cure. He targeted the vulnerable, preyed on public fears and exposed people to harm”, says Mr Fitzgerald.
Medsafe received three reports of people requiring hospitalizations after drinking MMS.
“His conduct presented a significant risk to public health, and that is why Medsafe acted. His actions were in stark contrast to the requirements of the Medicines Act 1981, which is public welfare legislation designed to protect the public” says Mr Fitzgerald.
“This decision sends a strong message that people who engage in selling so called “miracle cures” will be held to account and face fines or imprisonment”, says Mr Fitzgerald.
The offending period covered December 2019 to December 2020. This included when COVID-19 reached Aotearoa New Zealand and the country was placed in lockdown.
Mr Blake had sales of over $160,000 for the 12 month offending period. This was a significant increase in sales in March 2020. This coincided with the country being placed in lockdown.
Mr Blake controlled two websites, miraclemineral.co.nz that made therapeutic claims but did not sell the product but had a link to his other website, nzwaterpurifier.com, which sold the product as Water Purification products.
In an attempt to add a layer of protection against scrutiny from authorities, in 2016 Mr Blake entered into an arrangement with Mark Grenon to be the listed registrant of the mircalemineral.co.nz website. Mr Grenon was imprisoned in USA for selling Miracle Mineral Solution.
Mr Grenon set up the “Genesis II Church of Health and Healing” as an attempt to avoid arrest. Mr Blake was a Bishop of this Church.
The Medicines Act 1981 regulates the manufacture, sale and distribution of medicines, medical devices and related product. The framework of the Act is designed to ensure that consumers receive medicines that are safe, effective and of an acceptable quality. The Act sets out legislative requirements for the sale, advertising, distribution, manufacture and importation of medicines.
Medsafe is the New Zealand Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority. It is a business unit of the Ministry of Health and is the authority responsible for the regulation of therapeutic products in New Zealand. These products include medicines and related products, medical devices and controlled drugs used as medicines.