Good information about our population's health leads to effective support and appropriate training. All public health work stresses the importance of considering the causes of both good and poor health. This programme area recognises that a key role is to identify and provide information about the population's health status, what affects it, and how best to develop and support the capacity of community groups and organisations from health and other sectors to address the underlying causes of poor health. Information is reported and provided to a wide range of stakeholders, including the general public.
Area Two - Emergency Preparedness and Disease Control
This programme area incorporates interrelated strands of public health practice: communicable disease prevention and control, food safety and emergency planning and response.
Key Settings include:
Physical environment including food premises, farms, meat works
Group settings such as rest homes, schools, workplaces and community groups
Airport and port borders
High risk areas such as prisons
Service industry such as hotels and food premises.
Area Three - Healthy Physical Environments
Physical environments include land, air, water and the built environment. Physical environments have a direct effect on health and influence health-related behaviour and choices. Many of the greatest gains in public health have been achieved through the improvement of the physical environment including the provision of safe drinking water supplies, better management of waste and improved housing. As these are well managed now, they are less of an immediate threat, but could be further improved and require ongoing monitoring and protection into the future.
Priority Areas include:
Safeguarding water quality
Biosecurity i.e. protecting the health of people from disease carrying insects, other pests and bioterrorism
Using resource management processes to achieve healthy outcomes
Healthy housing
Active environments i.e. creating an environment that encourages physical activity
Risk management approach for regulatory services
Improved environmental conditions for Māori.
Area Four - Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention
Preventing chronic disease is the greatest opportunity to improve the health status of our communities. Cardiovascular disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes are the leading causes of death and disability. They are linked by common biological, behavioural and environmental risk factors. The biological risk factors include high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol and overweight. The behavioural risk factors include smoking, inactivity, poor nutrition and harmful alcohol use. Environmental measures through a settings approach are central to influencing the determinants of health and behavioural risk and protective factors.
Cardiovascular disease is strongly associated with tobacco smoking, obesity, nutrition and physical activity levels. Diabetes occurs in about 4% of the population, but the incidence is three times higher within Māori and Pacific Island populations. Cancer is the second leading cause of death (29%) and a major cause of hospitalisation (7%). Alcohol causes long term problems but the majority of alcohol-related harm results from death and injury on the roads, drowning, suicide, assaults and domestic violence. Obesity is becoming a major health problem, with more than 1000 people each year dying from obesity-related problems. Key Settings include:
