Politics

A long-serving health official says the increase in bureaucracy at Te Whatu Ora is “out of control”, despite the rest of the public service facing drastic cutbacks

Health minister Shane Reti appears to be distancing himself from fallout arising from a Ministry of Health proposal to axe the Suicide Prevention Office

DURING THE ELECTION, the National Party pledged to fund 13 cancer treatments if elected. But New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa understands at least six have already been, or recommended to be, declined or haven’t even been registered with Pharmac for approval. 

Associate health minister Casey Costello is seeking approval from Cabinet to repeal the Therapeutic Products Act this week 

The ACT Party’s election promise to return pseudoephedrine to pharmacy shelves is one step closer to fruition after the law change passed its first reading at Parliament on 20 February

A population health study released by Te Whatu Ora outlines some of the major gains made in reducing smoking in New Zealand in recent years and flies in the face of the new Government’s plans to roll back the next stage of the smokefree legislation

The documents released today by the incoming Coalition Govenment include a list of the ministers inside and outside Cabinet

Andrew Little was health minister from November 2020 to 1 February 2023 and, as such, shepherded into being the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act, enabling the current health reforms

University of Auckland health economics chair Paula Lorgelly says Pharmac’s recent email scandal has come at a monumentally bad time and “completely detracts” from the agency’s work

NZ First health spokesperson Jenny Marcroft says her party will not scrap Pharmac without having an alternative in place, and work needs to be done on what this looks like