Health Coalition Aotearoa and the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists are condemning a directive from Te Whatu Ora / Health NZ — which says any advice doctors want to offer about health issues in their regions needs sign off at a “national level”.
Doctors have said this directive, as well as other comments from Health Minister Simeon Brown, and cuts to public health teams, were having a “chilling effect”.
Simeon Brown has said he wants medical officers of health to stop writing about issues like fast food and “leading advocacy campaigns” on public health issues. Instead, he wants their focus to be on “technical advice and immunisation campaigns.”
“We strongly disagree with this directive from the Government. New Zealanders expect our health service to protect us, and especially our children, from harms caused by industries like tobacco, alcohol and fast food. Public health is not just about protecting people from infectious disease with vaccines. Prevention is so much better than cure”, says Grant Berghan fromHealth Coalition Aotearoa.
“About one third of the preventable premature deaths and disease in New Zealand is caused by three products – tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy food. This makes it vital to have informed public discussions on how to reduce this very high disease burden.
“These moves by Simeon Brown and Te Whatu Ora / Health NZ have big implications for public health advocacy in Aotearoa. Healthy democracies welcome debate and recognise engagement with the public and experts enriches public policy.
“And much public policy directly affects how people live. The public have a legitimate interest in these issues – they belong to all of us – not exclusively to politicians. The Government has no right to muzzle discussion about them.
“What the Government has done is an implicit threat to those who speak out as experts, is anti-democratic and has no place in a civilised liberal democracy like ours. Mr Brown is doing the country a disservice by adopting this threatening stance. This is behaviour we would expect from politicians in authoritarian states”, says Grant Berghan.
There are many positive examples of when the New Zealand Government has welcomed and embraced public health expertise. Some examples are making hospitality venues smokefree, making seatbelts in vehicles mandatory, healthy food initiatives, mental health initiatives, and drug and alcohol harm minimisation measures.
“Any attempt to limit the ability for doctors to speak publicly would be a breach of contract. The collective agreement between Te Whatu Ora and doctors includes a provision protecting doctors’ ability to offer their professional expertise and advice in public”, says Sarah Dalton, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists.
Health Coalition Aotearoa and the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists call on the public to reject this overreach by the Government.
