Health Minister Jonathan Coleman has thanked Cancer Control New Zealand for their work over the last ten years.

The independent Ministerial advisory committee is being disestablished as its role has been superseded by the progress made in improving cancer services for New Zealanders.

“Cancer Control New Zealand’s advice was necessary ten years ago when there was limited planning and investment in cancer services, and a lack of central clinical leadership,” says Dr Coleman.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman has welcomed the launch of Healthy Families Invercargill.

“Healthy Families NZ will improve people's health where they live, learn, work and play, as a way to prevent obesity and chronic illness," says Dr Coleman.

“The initiative encourages people to live healthier lives by making good food choices, being physically active, moderating alcohol and being smoke-free.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says the Government will be consulting with the health sector to inform the next steps towards the potential roll out of a national bowel screening programme.

“Delivering better cancer services is a top priority for the Government. Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in New Zealand,” says Dr Coleman.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says work is progressing towards a long term strategy to help people living with diabetes better manage their health.

“Diabetes is one of our biggest health challenges. It is estimated around 250,000 New Zealanders are living with the disease,” says Dr Coleman.

“We know that people with diabetes do better when they are active participants in their own care, supported by family.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says newborn babies across New Zealand are now benefitting from an improved hearing screening programme as a result of the implementation of the 2013 review.

“Over 55,000 newborn babies are screened each year through the hearing programme. Early detection of hearing loss means appropriate intervention can be provided,” says Dr Coleman.

“Good progress is being made on implementing the 21 quality improvement recommendations of the 2013 review on the newborn hearing screening programme.

From today all New Zealand children aged under 13 will be eligible to access free GP visits at any time of the day or night seven days a week, as well as free prescriptions.

“We want to support families in giving their children the best possible start in life. We are making it easier for families to get the medical attention their child needs,” says Health Minister Dr Jonathan Coleman.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says there is still time for people to get vaccinated before the worst of the flu season arrives.

“It takes up to two weeks to develop immunity, so it is best to be vaccinated before influenza spreads,” says Dr Coleman.

“1.16 million vaccines have been distributed so far which is a great result given the rollout was delayed a few weeks by changes to the vaccine strains.

“The health sector has worked hard over a shorter timeframe to deliver the same number of vaccine doses as in recent years.”

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman today officially opened a new maternal mental health respite and support service in Te Atatu South, Auckland.

“Pregnancy and childbirth can be vulnerable times for women - at least 15 per cent will develop depression, anxiety or other mental health issues. It is important mothers get the support they need,” says Dr Coleman.

“The Government is committed to providing high quality mental health services. In Budget 2013 we invested an extra $18.2 million in maternal mental healthcare for the North Island.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says since the pneumococcal vaccine was introduced in 2008 there have been approximately 600 fewer cases of invasive pneumococcal disease in children under five.

“Pneumococcal bacteria can cause severe ear infections, meningitis, pneumonia, and blood infection. Invasive pneumococcal disease can be fatal in around four per cent of cases,” says Dr Coleman.

“Pneumococcal vaccines have proven to be very effective. Most of the strains covered by the 2008 vaccine have now been almost completely eliminated in young children.

Customs Minister Nicky Wagner says Customs has destroyed over 2.5 tonnes of abandoned tobacco and collected $1.35 million in additional duty and taxes since the drop in tobacco duty free limits last November.

“People seem to be learning about the change. The amount of tobacco abandoned at airports by those not wanting to pay duty is dropping from the 100 kilograms Customs was initially collecting every week,” Ms Wagner says.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman has announced that Cancer Core, a group of students from the University of Otago, is the overall winner of the 2015 Minister of Health Volunteer Awards. 

“The health volunteer awards celebrate and recognise the thousands of dedicated health sector volunteers who give many hours of their time to help other New Zealanders,” says Dr Coleman.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman has announced that Homecare Medical is the preferred provider for the new national telehealth service.

New Zealand currently has multiple individual telehealth services that handle around two million calls a year. Some of these services are not available 24/7.

“In 2011 we committed to roll out a comprehensive telehealth advice service with access to nurses, GPs and pharmacists,” says Dr Coleman.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman has today written to Southern DHB dismissing all members of the Board and replacing it with a Commissioner.

“The financial problems at Southern DHB are longstanding. I do not have confidence that the current governance arrangements are suitable for delivering on the changes required in Southern DHB,” says Dr Coleman.

“Southern is forecasting a final deficit of $27 million for the current financial year. That figure has effectively doubled in the last six months.

Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne is welcoming today’s release of the fourth annual Perioperative Mortality Review Committee’s (POMRC) report.

Additional operative procedures have been added to the report for the first time: coronary artery bypass grafts (CABG), percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PCTA), bariatric surgery and severe postoperative infections.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy have announced a $500,000 funding boost to support mental health initiatives targeted at rural communities.

“Rural depression is a significant issue. The physical isolation as well as the uncertainties of being reliant on the land creates different pressures to those living in an urban setting,” says Dr Coleman.

“The Ministry of Health and Ministry for Primary Industries have each contributed $250,000 to the one off funding boost.

Associate Minister of Health Hon Peter Dunne has today approved on compassionate grounds the one-off use of Elixinol, a cannabidiol (CBD) product from the United States to be administered by clinicians treating Wellington patient Alex Renton.

The Minister said that  “despite the absence of clinical evidence supporting the efficacy of CBD in patients with Mr Renton’s condition status epilepticus, my decision relies on the dire circumstances and extreme severity of Mr Renton’s individual case”.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says good progress is being made towards accurately measuring patient flow from GPs to hospital based specialists and the outcome of those referrals.

“The Government is focused on delivering better and faster access to health services, including more elective surgeries,” says Dr Coleman.

“We’ve backed that up in Budget 2015 with a further $98 million for increased access to elective surgery. This comes on top of the $110 million committed in Budget 2014.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says Health and Disability Commissioner Anthony Hill has been reappointed for a second term.

“Congratulations to Mr Hill on his reappointment as Health and Disability Commissioner,” says Dr Coleman. “I would like to thank Mr Hill for his continuing commitment to the role.

“It is important to ensure New Zealanders have access to the highest quality health and disability care.

Good progress has been made in implementing the recommendations of a major review of disability support services, Associate Health Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga says.

“Substantial changes to the Ministry of Health’s processes and systems and managing provider performance have been made,” Mr Lotu-Iiga says.

“This review was a response to concerns raised by the disability sector around transparent performance and quality management of ministry-funded provider services.