Health & Wellbeing Archive

  • frog

    Christchurch rocked by mag 7.4 earthquake - by frog



    The details are sketchy as the sun has just come up, but there are reports of widespread damage, the airport is closed and the civil defense folk have activated the national response centre. I’ve already heard from one Green party member downtown, whose doing alright. The Press has finally put out something worth [...] read more
    September 4, 2010 7:37 am - 38 Comments
  • Kevin Hague

    Case for wider probe of ACC entitlement-cutting culture now even stronger - by Kevin Hague



    ACC’s use of Dr. Felicity Goodyear-Smith to advise on sexual abuse claims can only have resulted from catastrophic systems failure or a sick culture. New Zealanders need to know which, and Minister Smith must take steps to thoroughly investigate so the problems can be fixed read more
    August 30, 2010 10:58 am - 11 Comments
  • Catherine Delahunty

    When will we have real police culture change? - by Catherine Delahunty



    In 2007, the Herald named Louise Nicholas New Zealander of the Year for her brave exposure of police violence against women. However, as I blogged a couple of weeks ago, female victims of “police misconduct” like Louise have been told they will not be compensated. This week they also witnessed the edifying sight of [...] read more
    August 27, 2010 1:05 pm - 158 Comments
  • Kevin Hague

    Youth Health services at risk - by Kevin Hague



    Yesterday the Health Select Committee heard a briefing from the Ministry of Health in response to the petition of Jacinda Ardern and others seeking to safeguard youth one stop shops. These Youth One Stop Shops have mostly grown up in the health sector from the ground up, where needs have been expressed from [...] read more
    August 19, 2010 10:41 am - 10 Comments
  • Metiria Turei

    Inequality in Aotearoa: updated statistics - by Metiria Turei



    A major report was released today. Household Incomes in New Zealand: Trends in Indicators of Inequality and Hardship 1982-2009 uses data from the Household Economic Survey to update a wide range of poverty and inequality measures and analyses the findings thoroughly in a 150 page report. Missed it? You could be forgiven for [...] read more
    August 16, 2010 7:25 pm - 22 Comments
  • Catherine Delahunty

    25 years of alternative education - by Catherine Delahunty



    Last Thursday night I was one of the guests at the 25th anniversary celebration of the Porirua Alternative School. The school was developed with the support of the local community and the local colleges by some inspired people, notably Lloyd Martin, an alternative education visionary. The event last week included presentations of NCEA [...] read more
    August 16, 2010 11:00 am - 12 Comments
  • Metiria Turei

    Inequality in Aotearoa: life expectancy again - by Metiria Turei



    There was an interesting report on Friday about the links between life expectancy, inequality, and smoking which revealed some pretty scary findings: the rich are living longer, the gap in life expectancy between rich and poor is growing, and so is the gap in life expectancy between Maori and non-Maori. Radio New Zealand’s [...] read more
    August 14, 2010 9:06 pm - 87 Comments
  • Catherine Delahunty

    “Floodgates” of Police rape? - by Catherine Delahunty



    This morning the Attorney General announced there will be no compensation for 8 women who were part of an inquiry into police rape cases. The women also said there was no apology. Instead they were part of a confidential forum where “telling their story” was facilitated and compensation was recommended. The Crown [...] read more
    August 11, 2010 4:09 pm - 71 Comments
  • frog

    Alarming trend in early childhood fundraising? - by frog



    One of my froggy friends recently attended a fundraising event at her grandson’s Playcentre, and was alarmed to be greeted with a table groaning with Nestle products – flavoured coffee sachets and so on. When she asked the Playcentre parents what this was about, she learned that the company had offered a fundraising [...] read more
    August 11, 2010 12:44 pm - 3 Comments
  • Kevin Hague

    Ryall cuts into sinew and bone of Health sector - by Kevin Hague



    Last week brought the news of the resignation of Ken Whelan, Chief Executive of the Capital and Coast District Health Board. Coming hot on the heels of Stephen McKernon’s departure as Director-General of Health, with no replacement in sight, Whelan’s departure was initially spun as “personal reasons”. Then an email he had [...] read more
    August 8, 2010 3:45 pm - 26 Comments
  • Kevin Hague

    Key should challenge mental health stereotypes, not perpetuate them - by Kevin Hague



    When I was a schoolboy, one of the common schoolyard taunts was to refer to someone as “mental” or “loony”.  Through most of last century, mental illness was a highly stigmatised issue, and people with mental health problems were hidden away from the rest of society, often untreated and/or mistreated, in what [...] read more
    August 4, 2010 11:45 am - 44 Comments
  • Kevin Hague

    Government dodges on disease of poverty - by Kevin Hague



    Sometimes the House is frustrating. I succeeded in my bid for a question today, but when we have two primary questions in a day we don’t get any more supplementary questions added to us. My boss had question 2 and mine was 11 and, since the Gallery journalists start drifting off after [...] read more
    July 29, 2010 9:40 am - 50 Comments
  • Catherine Delahunty

    Collecting for Women’s Refuge - by Catherine Delahunty



    Another year and we still have to do street collections for Women’s Refuge. The epidemic of male violence continues in this so-called modern world. However big ups to Trina and the others in the Greens’ Parliamentary office who organised our team to collect on Lambton Quay all day in the freezing cold [...] read more
    July 27, 2010 1:46 pm - 27 Comments
  • frog

    Chillin’ out max and relaxin’ on the cool - by frog



    I don’t usually go for glamour shots, but here is a photo of me recovering from my Saturday night. Have a good week everybody! read more
    July 26, 2010 9:00 am - 5 Comments
  • Kevin Hague

    New gay study feeds misplaced sensationalism - by Kevin Hague



    Great to see researchers interested in human sexuality research are keen to do a better job of including and understanding sexual orientation, identity and behaviour as separate categories. As those of us who know the field well know, however, it is fraught with both methodological and political difficulties. The political difficulties arise from the [...] read more
    July 23, 2010 10:08 am - 11 Comments
  • Kevin Hague

    London launches cycle superhighways - by Kevin Hague



    This week London City launched the first of many bicycle superhighways. They are bold (blue), wide (1.5 metres), efficient thoroughfares for cyclists heading into London from all corners of the city. The City is spending £111 million per year on the scheme to foster a more liveable, low carbon city. read more
    July 22, 2010 11:02 am - 28 Comments
  • frog

    John Key gives me a dose of the bum-squirts - by frog



    Tummy bugs that cause diarrhoea and vomiting are particularly unpleasant illnesses. So is flu. Their only redeeming feature – unless you have an underlying chronic disease, or have contracted a serious but rare acute illness like salmonella or meningitis that can masquerade as a minor illness for a short while – is [...] read more
    July 20, 2010 9:27 pm - 94 Comments
  • Catherine Delahunty

    Toxic baby bottle battle - by Catherine Delahunty



    Bisphenol A(BPA) is a chemical added to plastics to make them stronger. It is used in baby bottles, feeding cups, packaging for baby food and the packaging of other foods. Emerging research indicates that the leaching from plastic containing BPA can have serious negative health effects. read more
    July 3, 2010 12:24 pm - 2 Comments
  • frog

    Celebrating the Green’s insulation success - by frog



    Yesterday marked the first anniversary of the Heat Smart insulation programme. The Greens have campaigned for years on the economic, social and environmental benefits of such a programme, and recognise it as a key plank in any Green New Deal as it is addressing both the climate crisis and the economic crisis at the same time. read more
    July 2, 2010 9:46 am - 16 Comments
  • frog

    Illuminating research - by frog



    The Association of Community Retailers (ACR), friends of Big Tobacco and pro-whaling movements, sent out a release today hailing a new study that shows that by banning tobacco displays you damage the economy and destroy public health. There are a couple of things I would like to point out. Canada’s Ruinous Tobacco Display Ban- [...] read more
    June 29, 2010 10:20 am - 7 Comments
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