Thank you for inviting me here to speak at your conference opening.
I would like to start by acknowledging Taupo District Council Chief Executive Rob Williams, National Executive Director Ivan Nicholson, National President Carole Simpson and Centre President Carroll Vaughan. Both Central and local government have important roles in protecting the public’s health and enabling quality living.
One of my own objectives in being a Member of Parliament is to improve the quality of life of the people I represent, the people of Taupo. This weekend the Great Lake Relay was held here in Taupo. Teams of up to 18 people walked or ran 155 km around the lake. I am proud to say I put my own body on the line supporting another great Taupo event. My team was made up of staff, friends, and family including my 12 year old son. The event had people of all ages and stages, shapes and sizes participate. There are many ways of enabling quality living. Yesterday, as my team members staggered and groaned, I just had to remind them being part of the MP’s team was for a good cause.
Response to Swine Flu – Pandemic Influenza H1N1 2009
I know that one of the topics that will be discussed at this conference is Pandemic Response, so I wish to touch upon the Swine Flu Pandemic that affected New Zealand last year.
Last year on 25 April swine flu landed in New Zealand. The virus had infected some members of a group of secondary school students from Rangitoto College returning from a school trip to Mexico. My ears pricked up when I heard the news because I was a student at Rangitoto College.
Our Public health officials quickly identified the significant potential threat and within 48 hours we had activated out National Pandemic Plan, and set up the National Health Coordination centre. New Zealand was the first country in the world to report importation of the swine flu.
Most New Zealanders would say we were prompt and effective in containing and delaying the spread of swine flu.
There were encouraging signs that the basic public health message such as staying home when sick, covering coughs and sneezes and regular hand-washing, helped to lessen the pandemic’s impact.
These interventions were practical and sensible, but were also based on careful planning, both within the health system and with other sectors. But let us not forget that the pandemic did take its toll.
While some regions experienced significantly more pressures than other, overall we were fortunate that the virus was relatively mild, although sadly, in a few cases it was tragic. This pandemic has given us a clear indication of our capacity and capability, and areas where there are opportunities to improve.
We don’t know how many New Zealanders contracted the virus in the first wave. Because it was mostly mild, many people cared for themselves at home while others may have been infected but had no obvious symptoms. The Ministry of Health estimate between 10 and 25 percent of New Zealanders have been ill with swine flu.
Our Health officials advise at least 50 percent of a population needs to be infected to provide sufficient community immunity.
So, there is likely to be a significant proportion of the population that have not been exposed to the current strain of swine flu and will still be susceptible to swine flu in the future.
This information will greatly aid our ability to plan for our future responses including vaccination strategies.
Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart
Around 860,000 of New Zealand homes are cold and damp because they are inadequately insulated. More than a quarter of people who live in these houses are on low or fixed incomes.
We have responded and on 1 July last year, National introduced the Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart scheme. We have invested of $323.3 million to help more than 180,000 cold and damp New Zealand homes install insulation over the next four years; this Government hopes to have up to 60,500 homes insulated each year by 2012/13.
The scheme is open to all houses built before 2000, regardless of household income. All households are eligible for a grant of up to a third of the cost insulating a house, up to a maximum of $1300, as well as a $500 grant towards an approved clean-heat device such as a wood burner or heat pump.
The Government recognises the limited ability of low income households to afford the upfront capital costs of insulation and heating devices, and within the scheme we have “ring-fenced” a certain number of houses each year for residents with Community Services cards. Insulation and clean heating is likely to be most effective in these houses.
Provisional data at the end of January showed 3975 homes were serviced during the month and since July 2009, when the scheme started, 30,003 households throughout New Zealand have taken advantage of the opportunity to warm up their homes.
Here in the Waikato, 2822 homes alone have taken up the opportunity to improve their homes insulation and in turn help improve their health.
The benefits of a warmer, drier and healthier home have been outlined by the World Health Organisation who recommend that living rooms should be heated between 18 and 20 degrees celsius. The average temperature in New Zealand living rooms is just less than 16 degrees.
A recent investigation in New Zealand studied the effects of installing insulation in houses and found that insulating costs houses resulted in reductions in:
• reports of poor health and wheezing
• sick days taken off from school or work
• visits to GPs and hospital admission for respiratory conditions
• heating costs
Last year I visited several homes that had been insulated as part of this scheme with Minister for the Environment Nick Smith. One very memorable visit for me was to a home here in Taupo. It was home to a “P” baby. His mother is a P addict and had taken drugs throughout her pregnancy. She delivered her twins prematurely. One baby died shortly after birth. The other had multiple disabilities including respiratory challenges and specialists did not expect him to survive.
His grandparents care for him and last year they had their home insulated and had heating devices installed. In this family’s case, the Warm Up Project was less about saving money on their power bills. It was all about saving money on doctor’s visits and the trips to the hospital.
Winter of 2008 this little boy had several trips a month to the doctor and several stays in hospital with severe respiratory problems. There has been a significant improvement in his health and a significant improvement in their quality of life.
With the cost of insulating a whole house costing the same as one night in a hospital, Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart is potentially one the most significant public health initiatives of the decade.
Protecting Lake Taupo
Lake Taupo is one of New Zealand’s treasures and is the heart of Taupo. Many New Zealanders and overseas tourists enjoy being able to go swimming in the lake, enjoy water sports and attempt to catch some our world famous trout.
However, the Lake’s health is declining due to the amount of nitrogen reaching it from rural land, urban sources and septic tank seepage. This affects the quality of the water that we enjoy swimming and playing in, but it also affects the ability of trout to feed, ultimately reducing their numbers which in turn affects recreation and the local economy.
We faced a rather bleak choice, whether we allow the Lake’s significant value to New Zealand and the world to gradually diminish, or whether we found ways to sustain both the health of the Lake and the viability of our surrounding community.
The decision to sustain the Lake was not only a choice from the decision makers, but also from the community. A survey in 2000 showed that 90% of the urban and 91% of the rural community believed that preserving the water quality of Lake Taupo was the most important issue for the region. Furthermore, 78% said that Lake Protection should occur ahead of development. My recent survey of constituents stated water quality in Lake Taupo as the most important environmental issue.
To just maintain the lake’s current water quality, we need to reduce the amount of nitrogen reaching the lake by 20%. This means we have to change the way that rural and urban land is managed.
Some of these changes include:
• Upgrades to sewerage systems around the Lake
• Changes to farming practices in the catchment
• Conversion of some grazed pastoral land to alternative low nitrogen land uses
Reducing the amount of nitrogen entering the Lake will be difficult. It will inevitably mean some changes to lifestyle and farming systems for many people who live and work in the catchment.
A total of $81.5 million has been allocated over the next 14 years to reduce manageable nitrogen levels into Lake Taupo and avoid further significant deterioration in lake water quality. The Government will fund 45% of this amount with the Taupo District Council and Environment Waikato collecting the remainder on an annual basis until 2018.
The Lake Taupo Protection Trust has been set up to manage the joint public fund. The Trust has been established as a Council Controlled Organisation and a joint inter-agency committee made up of representatives from Council, Environment Waikato, Central Government and Ngati Tüwharetoa, manage and monitor the work of the Trust.
The solution to maintaining the current water quality in Lake Taupo is to view the changes as an opportunity for innovative sustainable development.
The challenge is to make changes that support the economy of Taupo community, protect the assets of its people and move at a pace that can be accommodated by all parties.
Closing
Thanks for you allowing me to share in the opening of this conference. The work you do in environmental health is important to our community and to our country. Keep up the great work and enjoy your stay in Taupo.
|