Canterbury Health in All Policies Newsletter: March 2022
With widespread COVID-19 in New Zealand, the impact of the pandemic on multiple social determinants of health is clear. The COVID-19 pandemic is a threat multiplier, taking existing social problems, and compounding their force. This comes while the 6th IPCC report makes explicit the scale the ultimate threat multiplier, climate change.
The pandemic is interweaving with the longstanding housing affordability crisis and other inequities. Despite a variety of support programmes for the pandemic, the root causes of inequity and ill-health remain. This pandemic will not be the last. We need to respond in partnership with integrated solutions.
The need for wider action to improve the circumstances in which people live has been recognised. With reforms in health, local government and resource management in development, there is opportunity for real change to our systems and, hopefully, our community outcomes.
Community wellbeing outcomes and equity need to drive activity and investment both in health and government – not the other way around. Te Tiriti o Waitangi must also frame all decision-making and action. There is so much potential to bring partners and communities together to deliver the joined-up responses that community wellbeing really needs.
As noted in the 2021 Canterbury HiAP Annual Report, as we plunge into a new phase of living with COVID-19, we have renewed opportunity to consider and create the conditions that encourage a healthy population and planet. Let’s continue to work together to achieve this.
Tanya McCall
Interim Executive Director - Te Mana Ora Community and Public Health
Read the March 2022 issue of the CDHB Health in All Policies Newsletter online.
In this issue:
- Canterbury HiAP Annual Report for 2021;
- Historic lead painted property and potential risks to childhood health;
- 2022 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change;
- Where we live linked to health behaviours and outcomes; and
- News, upcoming events and new resources.
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Health in All Policies (HiAP) is a structured approach that systematically takes into account the health implications of decisions, seeks synergies, and avoids harmful health impacts, in order to improve population health and health equity.
Canterbury's Health in All Policies Team is based at Community and Public Health, part of the Canterbury District Health Board.