Vol 134 No 1543: 8 October 2021

Closing the gaps: health equity by 2040

Health inequities have existed in New Zealand since records began. They have been described as immoral because for many years governments have known what is needed to address them.

COVID-19: what comes after elimination? | OPEN ACCESS

Although the delta variant of Covid emerged last year and was detected in our managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) facilities five months ago, we were poorly prepared for and have struggled to control this current outbreak.

Are we just dishing out pills constantly to mask their pain? Kaiāwhina Māori health workers’ perspectives on pain management for Māori | OPEN ACCESS

Chronic non-cancer pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide and disproportionately affects Māori and their whānau, as Māori adults are 1.4 times more likely than non-Māori adults to self-report chronic pain.

Visual impairment and its correction among Pacific youth in Aotearoa: findings from the Pacific Islands Families Study

Pacific people living in Aotearoa New Zealand experience disproportionately poor health outcomes, and this extends to eye problems.

Cigarette smoking and e-cigarette use among university students in New Zealand before and after nicotine-containing e-cigarettes became widely available: results from repeat cross-sectional surveys

Cigarette smoking is a leading cause of preventable illness and death in New Zealand and globally and a major contributor to inequalities in health and social wellbeing between Māori and non-Māori New Zealanders.

The inequity of access to health: a case study of patients with gout in one general practice

Achieving health equity in Aotearoa New Zealand is a stated aim of the Government and those responsible for managing and developing its health and disability system.

Pacific Islands Families Study: adverse impact of food insecurity on child body composition

The global recession caused by COVID-19 has exacerbated unemployment, inequities and poverty in Aotearoa.

Selection of Māori students into medicine: re-imagining merit. Exploring some of the sociological reasons that might explain the exclusion of Māori from the medical workforce

Māori have been severely under-represented in New Zealand’s medical workforce for the entirety of the country’s colonial history.

Shear wave elastography to predict oesophageal varices, morbidity and mortality in chronic liver disease

Chronic liver disease (CLD) is a growing problem affecting approximately fifty million people worldwide.

Which demographic factors influence Pacific women’s attendance at colposcopy clinics in New Zealand?

Since New Zealand introduced organised cervical screening in the 1990s,both the incidence and mortality of cervical cancer has reduced significantly.

Review of the Accident Compensation Corporation’s radiation therapy injury claims, 1 July 2009–30 June 2019

This study explored the incidence, type and costs of radiation therapy injury claims from the last decade, with the aim of increasing health professionals’ understanding of the ACC treatment injury claim process and legislated criteria to better assist injured individuals.

Māori and Pacific peoples’ experiences of a Māori-led diabetes programme

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) disproportionately affects Māori and Pacific peoples in Aotearoa.

Kawa haumaru: a mātauranga Māori approach to child safety in Aotearoa New Zealand | OPEN ACCESS

Aotearoa New Zealand performs poorly with respect to child injury prevention in comparison to other high-income countries.

Spontaneous pneumomediastinum of delivery: a diagnosis of exclusion

Spontaneous pneumomediastinum of delivery, also known as Hamman’s syndrome, is a rare complication of childbirth occurring in around one in 2,000–100,000 vaginal deliveries.

Pacific countries lead the way on sugary drinks taxes: lessons for New Zealand | OPEN ACCESS

New Zealand has one of the highest rates of obesity in the OECD, and the health burden of death and disability from obesity and being overweight has increased by 26% in a decade to become the second largest single cause of health loss after tobacco.

How has long-acting reversible contraceptive provision at Family Planning clinics in Aotearoa New Zealand changed since PHARMAC funded intra-uterine systems for contraception?

Here we report de-identified administrative data about the type of long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) start provided to Family Planning clients for three months (November–January) across four time-periods from November 2017 to January 2021.

Ministry stops measuring the effect of screening on access to diagnostic colonoscopy

In New Zealand, the Southern region has historically had among the highest incidence and mortality rates for colorectal cancer, and considering the region has also had among the highest rates of late and advanced presentations of colorectal cancer to A&E, it seems paradoxical that the Southern region has among the lowest rates of colonoscopy.

Navigating the maze of DHB locality authorisation

As a remote, first-year PhD student in health sciences at the University of Otago, I have become used to managing a variety of challenges that the global pandemic has brought along with it: taking calls in the middle of the night (I live in the Netherlands, waiting for New Zealand to open its borders), getting together with my supervisors via Zoom only (we have yet to meet in person) and navigating the bureaucratic landscape of gaining ethics approval and applying for scholarship and funding at the university while being outside of the country.

Cases for Diagnosis of Syphilis of the Nervous System

Among the following four cases there were two in which syphilis of the nervous system was undoubted, but which presented other points of clinical interest, and two in which it became necessary to decide upon the value of a negative Wassermann reaction.

Dr William (Bill) Taylor, FRCS

Dr William (Bill) Taylor passed away on 5 September 2021 at the age of 83. Sadly, he had suffered from ill-health in his last few years.

Abstracts for the 257th Otago Medical School Research Society Summer Student Speaker Awards, Wednesday 5 May 2021