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PHANZ Pānui - February 2022

Kaupapa Here - Newsletter and Policy Spotlight

Kei ngā manu taiko, ngā kaimahi hoki o te pūnaha hauora, tēnā rā koutou katoa -
greetings to all

In this newsletter

  • Last chance to make your contribution to the COVID-19 status report
  • Te Tiriti in Action - Haere He Awatea
  • Think Piece - 'When Doors Open'
  • Recommendations  on  the  health system  reform  for  Asian  and  ethnic communities  in  Aotearoa
  • Critical Treaty Analysis workshops
  • Staff vacancies
  • Suggested reading

PHANZ Network Status Report

The Public Health Association is calling members and affiliates past and present to engage their expertise and experience for the next phase of COVID-19.
"This is not a drill", says CEO Grant Berghan, "we need organised efforts of society and the expertise of our network". 

With Omicron now in the community and all areas of New Zealand moved to red alert, we are asking members and affiliates to update what is happening in your public health areas to provide key intelligence and response information for the public health effort and the well-being of our people. 

Please take a moment to give us an update on your sector so we can collate and contribute back to our network efforts.

You can access the form here - it will remain open for feedback until 23rd of February.

The form is split into 6 sections and will take approximately 10 mins;

  • Checking in
  • Confidence in your sector
  • Status report
  • Action steps
  • Issues to flag
  • Advice - short term, long term, and in regards to Māori/Pasifika/Asian communities. 

We sincerely thank you for your contribution. This information will inform the PHA's strategic direction towards the COVID-19 response in 2022. 

STATUS REPORT FORM
Te Tiriti in Action - Haere He Awatea
Comments from our new Senior Policy Advisor - Māori, Chris Webber
Waitangi Day 2022 is the first one our organisation can celebrate having embraced Te Tiriti with a constitutional 50 percent Māori partnership on our executive council. With Nari Faiers Co-President (Māori) and a good muster of Māori talent we've achieved both a milestone in capacity and options for progressing the next phase of our journey. This includes myself, taking a leave of absence from executive council to fulfil a pressing need for Māori policy work on contract - backfilled by other Caucus representation. 
This leads me to our Kapiti Island hapu slogan in the title - Haere He Awatea, it really does feel like a 'new day dawning' and I wish to acknowledge our members for taking us there. My great great grandfather and Māori MP Wiremu Parata, took the 1877 'Treaty Nullity' case to court after his grandfather Te Rangihiroa had signed Te Tiriti at Kapiti 4 June 1840. With the colonial system fixed on The Treaty being 'a nullity', generations of loss persisted through to today - with large parts of our available capacity still absorbed into putting things right. Like public health, it is going to take the collective efforts of all to achieve the vision and possibilities provided by Te Tiriti.
Nō reira e hoa mā, we are in times of transition within and without - and with change comes opportunity to keep navigating to the chosen destination. Ko te tūmanako ko te pae ora mō tataou katoa - let's fix the vision of equitable wellbeing for all in our minds and imagine us all happily there together and what path and set of 'tangas' (wairuatanga, whanaungatanga, ūkaipōtanga my top three) were required for it to work for Māori, leaving no-one behind. To me, this is Te Tiriti in action. Mauri ora!

Think Piece

In the past few weeks a trend has been emerging of New Zealand citizens challenging one of our major public health defenses against COVID-19, the Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ). In this 'Think Piece' Dr Alana McCambridge, new staff member with the PHANZ National Office, reflects on the experience of Charlotte Bellis and how it differed from her own experience with MIQ. 
 
'When Doors Open'

By now you have probably heard of the name Charlotte Bellis. The pregnant Kiwi reporter that was unable to secure a spot in MIQ and so willingly contacted the Taliban and travelled to Afghanistan for “safe haven”. Charlotte then penned an open letter to the New Zealand government and got in contact with her PR friend to make some noise. She wielded the power of the media both in New Zealand and abroad to make her point heard, gaining sympathy and calls for change to New Zealand’s tight border control. 
Read more here 


Got an idea for a Think Piece? Let’s discuss!

Asian Caucus 

Recommendations on the health system reform for
Asian and ethnic communities in Aotearoa 

Asian and other ethnic populations account for a significant proportion of Aotearoa’s population (more than 18% as at Census 2018) and these populations are also increasing at a fast pace. Although some Asian and ethnic groups have higher life expectancy at birth, lower rate of infant mortality and lower mortality rates for some conditions, we must acknowledge these groups are extremely diverse in culture, language, health status, settlement history, and unmet health needs. We will have to develop systematic rather than ‘piecemeal’ national health strategy and implementation plans at regional/district level for Asian and ethnic communities to maintain the outstanding results and to address those areas where issues exist already or are emerging particularly for some Asian and ethnic sub-groups, former refugees and asylum seekers. It is highly recommended to apply an (vertical) equity lens to Asian and ethnic populations, to understand the unique health needs of these subpopulations and proportionate investment of resources via Asian and ethnic health research, to set up dedicated regional/district level Asian and ethnic health divisions with commission powers and empower community organisations for better health outcomes, patient experiences and wellbeing.

Read the recommendations here

AUT Branch

Critical Treaty Analysis

The Auckland University of Technology branch of the PHA recently held a full day workshop on Critical Treaty Analysis (CTA) as a fundraiser for the branch led by Heather Came and our own Grant Berghan. It attracted around 50 people with participants from across the wider public health sector including students, academics, crown officials and public health practitioners. The interactive session was well received with some unlearning of colonial history and myth-busting in the morning followed by focussed application of the tool in the afternoon. Participants reported finding the session engaging and many committed to working with the tool within their respective organisations.

The AUT branch of PHA will be holding follow-up on-line sessions led by Heather and A/Prof Jacquie Kidd on 29th April or 18th August. Register now before the spots sell out. Free for PHA financial members and $100 for non-members.

Tim, Jacquie, Dom and Heather will be speaking about the CTA at a forthcoming webinar at Te Tiriti Based Futures + Anti-racism 2022 on-line virtual conference. The PHA is a partner at this conference.

Staff Vacancies

Suggested reading - The determinants of planetary health: an Indigenous consensus perspective. Lancet Planet Health, 2022
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Got something to add to the next Pānui? Get in touch with Alana@PHA.org.nz






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