Open letter to Minister of Finance, Hon Grant Robertson

Responses to NZHR’s attempts to engage with MBIE officials directly to increase health research investment allocations in the 2022 Budget have been inconclusive. The officials did indicate however that the government’s finances were coming under increasing pressure from the costs of responding to Covid 19 and that the Minister of Finance is therefore not viewing…

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NZHR’s submission on the health reforms legislation

NZHR has made a submission on the health reforms Bill. We set out our concerns about the New Zealand health system’s apparent historical indifference to the most fundamental of health outcomes – the country’s high and increasing levels of premature mortality – coupled with a longstanding systemic resistance to embracing health research and innovation as…

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What does a health research embedded New Zealand health system look like?

New Zealanders for Health Research is developing a “compelling case” for embedding health research into the reformed health system, and describing what that will look like. It will be based on NZHR’s submission to the Health Transition Unit (HTU), will include a specifically Te Ao Māori lens, and be informed by the results of our…

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Advocating for increased investment in health research

Over the last couple of years NZHR has attempted to secure increased government investment in health research through the Finance and Expenditure Committee Budget Policy Statement formal submission processes. However in both years it was our experience that by that time key budget decisions had already made and that opportunities to influence any outcomes were…

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Genetically modified organisms and health research

Despite references in the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Act to “rapid assessment” the reality is that the process of gaining approval to develop and use genetically modified organisms (GMOs) typically takes months. Clinical research organisations which are developing new GMO based therapies for hitherto untreatable or hard to treat conditions, which have secured…

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Help !

Help us to tell the health transition unit, and the new Health New Zealand and Māori Health Authority Boards, what embedding health research in the reformed health system will ideally look like, and the impact on health outcomes that could result. Please complete our five minute questionnaire here: surveymonkey.com/r/NZHR2021. The survey’s open to all health…

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