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SMC Bulletin - Mental Health, Addiction report
Mental Health, Addiction report
The Government has
released the report from the Mental Health and Addiction
Inquiry.
The Inquiry began work in February and its
work included extensive public consultation. The final
report, He Ara Oranga, made 40 recommendations
including expanding access to publicly-funded services,
establishing a Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission,
setting a target to reduce suicide rates by 20 per cent by
2030 and removing criminal sanctions on the possession of
drugs for personal use.
Victoria University of Wellington senior lecturer Dr Fiona Hutton commended the inquiry for its thorough approach to mental health, including the focus on issues related to addiction.
"Many of those struggling with addiction are also struggling with mental health issues, which are in turn exacerbated by other social and cultural factors such as poverty and disadvantage. The way we currently respond to those with addiction issues often intensifies the problems related to addiction and mental health."
Massey University's Professor Sally Casswell applauded the inquiry highlighting the role of alcohol in mental health.
"There have been clear recommendations from the Law Commission in 2010 and all that has been lacking is political will to put these into effect." She said the inquiry had heard submissions on the harm linked to "the number of liquor outlets, their proximity to schools and location in poorer communities, and the need for restriction on advertising and sponsorship".
AUT Professor of Criminal Law and Justice Studies Warren Brookbanks said the inquiry's recommendation to repeal the current Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment & Treatment) Act 1992 was consistent with other jurisdictions reflecting the growing human rights focus of international documents.
"However, given the lengthy gestation period that accompanied the enactment of the 1992 statute, it would be naive to think that such a radical change could be effected speedily and in the absence of further widespread consultation and debate."
“But in the final analysis, what is sought and recommended in the Report is a collective and enduring commitment to improved mental health and wellbeing in New Zealand.”
The SMC gathered expert reaction to the inquiry's report.
Quoted: Newsroom
"Absence of disease
is a difficult product to sell. The better you do, the less
visible it is.
"We have many international examples of
high immunisation coverage leading to disease becoming less
visible, populations then losing the demand for the vaccine,
rates dropping off, disease returning and then the community
demanding the vaccine again."
University
of Auckland Associate Professor Nikki Turner onbarriers to successful immunisation
programmes.
Climate reports warn of
risks
Several climate reports released this week have
warned that emissions are rising and pose a threat to
security and equity.
On Thursday, new data published in Environmental Research Letters indicated that global carbon emissions from fossil fuels had risen sharply again, with a predicted 2 per cent jump in emissions in 2018.
Niwa atmosphere-ocean scientist Dr Sara Mikaloff-Fletcher told Stuff that the world needed to reduce emissions aggressively if there was a chance to keep warming below 1.5C above pre-industrial temperatures.
"The fact we're still seeing this mismatch between the promised reductions and what's actually happening, actual economic policy, is a big worry for me as a climate scientist."
The current rise following a flat period between 2014 and 2016, which was "really hopeful". "It was the first time where people's choices and intentions to reduce emissions were being seen in the global (carbon) budget, as opposed to people responding to economic pressure," Dr Mikaloff-Flecther said.
"That was very exciting. Now we're seeing a return to a trajectory of increased emissions, that's largely driven by Asia essentially."
Also on Thursday, the Deep South National Science Challenge published a report by University of Otago Associate Professor Lisa Ellis that questioned the ethics behind who will bear the risks of sea level rise and how these risks can be shared more fairly.
Dr Ellis warned that coastal property owners were being incentivised to invest in areas that might one day be a flood zone, which would become even more perverse if decisions were made about what communities to defend from sea level rise based on property value.
"The rich will get seawalls while the poor get moved. That doesn't embody who we are as people."
The Ministry of Defence and the Defence Force also released a joint report calling climate change one of the "most significant security threats of our time".
Drawn from eight months of discussions with officials from across the Pacific and academics, the report highlighted water shortages, food insecurity, impacts on public health and climate migration as climate-related impacts likely to heighten security challenges across the region.
The report recommends the military should prepare for an increasing strain from a greater number of humanitarian aid and disaster relief operations.
Upcoming SAVVY workshops
Our flagship
media training course returns in 2019 - with the first
two-day workshop of the year in Christchurch.
Further
2019 workshops will be confirmed at a later date, but we're
taking applications for Christchurch now, and it would be a
good idea to apply before
Christmas:
• Christchurch
7-8
February
Our experienced
facilitators provide a supportive environment for
researchers to consider their work from different
perspectives and find new ways to describe the value of
their research to the public.
Ideally suited for researchers with previous media experience seeking further development of their skills, as well as beginners anticipating media interest in their work.
Applications close 10
January
APPLY NOW
Policy news
& developments
Retail fuel study: The Commerce Commission's first market study will investigate the retail fuel market.
Rare plover chicks: Seven critically endangered shore plover chicks have hatched on Motutapu - there are only 235 birds remaining.
Biological emissions: The Biological Emissions Reference Group has reported back on two years of research into reducing biological emissions from primary industries.
Glacier access: DOC will begin work to reinstate valley floor access to Fox Glacier.
Green investment: A $100 million fund will aim to reduce New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions through Green Investment Finance Ltd.
This week on the NZ Conversation.
The double juggle: how working parents
manage school holidays and their
jobs
Candice Harris, Jarrod Haar,
Auckland University of Technology
Remembering Pearl Harbor and America’s
entry into the theatre of war
James
H. Liu, Massey University
Woke washing: what happens when marketing
communications don’t match corporate
practice
Jessica Vredenburg,
Auckland University of Technology, Amanda Spry, RMIT
University, Joya Kemper, University of Auckland, Sommer
Kapitan, Auckland University of
Technology
NZ is home to species found nowhere else but
biodiversity losses match global
crisis
Robert McLachlan, Steven
Alexander Trewick, Massey University
See more NZ-authored Conversation articles.
What we've been
reading
With an abundance of news stories to
possibly read, watch and listen to, it can be hard to find
the gems. Here we highlight some of the stories that caught
our attention this
week.
Mike King's confronting, candid and hopeful
advice to Kiwi teens
In its final show of
the year, The Hui followed comedian-turned-advocate Mike
King to Whanganui City College where he talked about
self-esteem, bullying, addition and taming the inner
critic.
The basics of a proposed legal death: a
guide to the End of Life Choice bill
As the
select committee considering the End of Life Choice Bill
returns from the largest-ever parliamentary tour, Stuff has
been running a series of stories considering the arguments
for, and the stories surrounding, the Bill.
How exposure to LED lights harms animals as
well as humans
Following last month's
release of the Royal Society Te Apārangi report on blue
light, Peter Griffin investigated the issues for The
Listener.
Into the ice world: Why we should all care
about Antarctica
NZ Herald science
reporter Jamie Morton will head back down to the ice this
summer - he writes about why we should care about
Antarctica.
The CRISPR Baby Scandal Gets Worse by the
Day
More news keeps coming to light about He
Jiankui's claim that he used CRISPR gene editing on human
embryos, resulting in the birth of twin girls. The
Atlantic's Ed Yong details why the case is so
concerning.
The Search for Alien Life Begins in
Earth’s Oldest Desert
Rebecca Boyle,
writing for The Atlantic, joins astrobiologist Mary
Beth Wilhelm in the Atacama Desert on a mission to learn
what signs life might leave behind on alien
planets.
New from Sciblogs - NZ's science blog network
Some of the highlights from this week's Sciblogs posts:
How To Make Friends And Influence People (By
Being A Great Session Chair)
Conference
season is here again, and in many instances that means
sessions that go well over their allotted time. Lucy Stewart
offers advice on how to be a good conference session
chair.
Guest Work
Teachers’ reactions to this year’s Year
13 Bio exam
Teachers have been voicing their
concerns about the Year 13 Biology exam students sat last
week.
BioBlog
Genome-edited babies – what’s the worry?
The story of the supposed gene-edited babies
in China continues. Grant Jacobs offers an update on some of
the concerns.
Code for Life
The sad state of science learning in primary
school
While most primary-aged children like
learning about science at school, new figures show that only
20 per cent of Year 8 students last year reached the
expected level of achievement in
science.
BioBlog
Upcoming
events
Please see the SMC Events Calendar for more events and
details.
• Precrastination: 10 December, Dunedin.
Everyone knows about procrastination, but Edward Wasserman
will discuss another phenomenon - completing tasks quickly
just to get them done sooner.
• Forage genetics: 10 December, Dunedin. Marcelo Carena will discuss AgResearch work developing climate change tolerant forage cultivars.
• Research impact conundrum: 10 December, Hamilton. Martina Battisti will discuss developing a research culture that fosters non-academic benefits of research.
• Experience of harm: 10 December, Wellington. Zoë James will set out how research can explain and illuminate the hate harms experienced by Gypsies and Travellers in the UK.
• Artificial Intelligence: 11-14 December, Wellington. The 31st Australasian Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence will include sessions on data mining, neural networks and big data.
• Smart decarceration: 11 December, Wellington. The Labour-led Government has committed to reducing the prison population by 30 per cent in 15 years, how could this be achieved?
• Nuclear arms: 11 December, Christchurch. Zia Mann will present on nuclear arms control and nonproliferation.
• Death and dying: 11 December, Christchurch. We all will die, but we don't talk about it very much - this panel will buck that trend.
• Reducing suicide: 11 December, Auckland. Helen Christensen will discuss suicide reduction initiatives in Australia.
• One Health: 12-13 December, Wellington. The One Health Aotearoa Symposium will include sessions on antimicrobial resistance and emerging infectious diseases.
Science Media Centre NZ
Our aim is to promote accurate, evidence-based reporting on science and technology by helping the media work more closely with the scientific community.
The Science Media Centre is New Zealand's only trusted, independent source of information for the media on all issues related to science. Thousands of news stories providing context from and quoting New Zealand researchers have been published as a direct result of our work.
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