Fifteenth Annual Report

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Fifteenth Annual Report

Date of publication: December 2006

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Summary
I was honoured to be asked earlier this year to chair the National Health Committee (NHC). It was with sadness that we farewelled Robert Logan who as Chair of the Committee for six years, played an active role in setting the direction of the Committee’s work and its advice to the Minister of Health.

During the past year, the NHC and its subcommittee the Public Health Advisory Committee (PHAC) have completed three significant pieces of work. A key theme of all three pieces is that the task of improving the health of New Zealand’s population and reducing health inequalities needs to be taken up by agencies across government and communities, and is not solely the responsibility of the health sector – effective collaborative action is required.

In November, the NHC provided the Minister of Health with advice from its project looking at the experiences of people with chronic conditions. A clear message from all those who spoke with the Committee was the need for better co-ordination both within the health sector and with agencies outside the health sector. Non-health agencies have important roles to play in improving the lives of people with chronic conditions.

The PHAC’s two pieces of advice highlighted the importance of addressing the wider determinants of health. These were the completion of the PHAC’s work on Health Impact Assessment (HIA ) and its report Health is Everyone’s Business. Since its establishment in 2001, the PHAC has been promoting the concept of HIA . This has included developing a New Zealand HIA tool and guide. The PHAC’s work on HIA has paved the way for its adoption by policy agencies and for the recent statement from the Prime Minister that government agencies will be expected to assess new policies and legislation for their impacts on health. The PHAC will be releasing its final publication on HIA early in the New Year.

The PHAC’s report Health is Everyone’s Business was launched in July this year. The report takes stock of the current state of, and opportunities facing, public health in New Zealand. It makes recommendations to the Minister about how to ensure public health expertise is used effectively to improve the health of populations and reduce health inequalities. As the title suggests, there is a strong focus in the report on the important role that non-health sector agencies play in improving the health of New Zealand populations and communities.

I look forward to working with the Committees over the coming year to further the diverse range of projects on our work programme, all of which have potential to make a difference to the health of individuals and communities.

Linda Holloway
Chair
National Health Committee

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This publication is available in Word and PDF format below:

Fifteenth Annual Report (Word, 147 KB)
Fifteenth Annual Report (PDF, 1 MB)

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Publishing information
Date of publication: December 2006

ISBN: (Book) – 0-478-28516-7
ISBN: (Internet) – 0-478-28517-5

HP number: 4325