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Our own home ‘will become our own grave’ if not taken care of, warns new President of  International health union

By
Kaniva Staff
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The new leader of an international health care body has warned Pacific Island peoples that their way of life and the environment in which they live has been severely damaged.  

Sione Tu’itahi

The situation was described as one of the factors which has contributed to the Pacific islanders’ alarming rate of health problems in New Zealand.

Tongan-based New Zealand health promoter Sione Tu’itahi, who was recently appointed the new President of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE), said the state of the Pacific island people’s health was devastating.  

Tu’itahi, who is the first Indigenous person to hold the position, said it was part of his role in the international body to promote the concept of a healthy planet and healthy human beings.

“The planet is like our own house. We live in our rooms. And if we do not take good care of it it could fall and kill us”, Tu’itahi told Kaniva News in an exclusive interview.

His comment came after Tongan nephrologist Dr Viliami Tūtone said the number of Tongan children orphaned in New Zealand due to their parents dying young because of diabetes-related conditions was expected to grow.

Dr Tūtone said Pacific islanders as young as 40 had died of diabetes, while others ended up on dialysis treatment at Middlemore Hospital.

Dr Tūtone said some Tongan orphans were as young as 10 years old.

“They have no mothers and the number is expected to grow”, he told Kaniva News.

Dr Tūtone said the Ministry of Health’s latest record for June 2022 showed 743 people were on dialysis at Middlemore hospital. He said 447, or 60 percent of those patients, were Pasifika. Breaking down the number for the Pasifika patients he said 184 were Samoans, 114 were Tongans, 88 were Cook Islanders, 31 were Fijians, 24 were Niueans and other ethnicities were six.

A review of evidence about health equity for Pacific Peoples in New Zealand in 2019 showed the Pasifika made up seven percent of the population of New Zealand.

The report  by the Pacific Perspectives Ltd,  highlighted some social changes which showed that 24 percent of Pacific peoples did not have enough money to meet their everyday needs. It said 40 percent  of Pacific peoples reported living in homes that were always cold and 10 percent reported having problems with damp and mould in their accommodation.

Self-care first

Tu’itahi said people must be reminded that their lives were in their own hands.

He said life was a journey which started from left to right.

“When the baby is born, he is on the left side of this journey”, the former Tongan  journalist said.

“That’s where life begins, at home, parents and the family and the places where they lived, churches, schools, the  plantation, the workplaces and seas.

“On the right side of the journey that’s where you find the hospitals and clinics for people who are sick”, Tu’itahi said.

In other words, living a healthy life started at the left side, not on the right side.

“If we are cautious on the left side we do not need to end up on the right side of the journey,” he said.

He said people should go to hospitals and clinics for necessary needs such as tests for pregnant women and the delivery of their babies and for healthy people to check their health.

Tu’itahi said young people nowadays ended up in hospitals for diseases which might have been avoided if they had looked after themselves.

“They were careless when they started their journey on the left side of life.

“This included eating wrong food, lack physical exercises, abusing of the body, living in unclean environment”.

Tu’itahi said these problems also cost the government huge amounts of money in building hospitals and special medical departments to look after people’s severe medical conditions caused by their lack of good care of their own lives.

“If we rely on the right side of this journey to cure our sicknesses and for the governments to provide us with medical assistance and medication the government could run out of money,” he said.

“Those are the monies that may have helped other important things for us including schools and housings.

“Look at the Covid pandemic. It caused a lot of distress in the health sector and nurses and doctors were affected because of working long hours.

“We also spent a lot of money in researches to get the right medication for the virus.

“If we do not look after our own home, make sure it is warm and clean and safe it will become our own grave”.

Tu’itahi said he was looking forward to working together with the community to improve their health and living.

Asked about his new role, Tu’itahi said he was honoured to take up the role, which was a “huge responsibility,” but which brought the opportunity to share leadership and work with  “wonderful leaders” from around the world.

IUHPE described itself as “a global professional non-governmental organisation dedicated to health promotion around the world”.

Four schools in lockdown after incident on Auckland’s North Shore

By
Kaniva Staff
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By RNZ.co.nz and is republished with permission.

Armed police have been deployed to an incident on Auckland’s North Shore after some schools were placed in lockdown.

Police on the corner of Bardia Street and Lake Road in Belmont, Auckland.

Police on the corner of Bardia Street and Lake Road in Belmont, Auckland. Photo: RNZ

Takapuna Grammar, Belmont Intermediate, Bayswater Primary School, and Northcote Intermediate all went into lockdown just after 11am.

About 15 minutes later, the schools posted on Facebook saying the lockdown had lifted.

They said the lockdown was due to a police incident in the area.

Bayswater and Belmont’s posts said everyone was safe.

Belmont Intermediate principal Nick Hill sa

Takapuna Grammar said students were safely inside buildings as instructed by police and the Ministry of Education.

Northcote is yet to annouce it has lifted its lockdown.

Police confirmed there had been a lockdown.

Locals described seeing police cars speeding through the area.

Māori and Pasifika encouraged to get screened for bowel cancer

By
Kaniva Staff
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By Ashleigh McCaull and Jamie Tahana of RNZ.co.nz and is republished with permission.

A bowel cancer survivor says a campaign to encourage more Māori and Pasifika to get screened for the disease is a step in the right direction to lowering the death toll.

Associate Health Minister Peeni Henare at the bowel cancer screening campaign launch.

Associate Health Minister Peeni Henare says early detection is crucial in preventing more deaths Photo: Supplied

A campaign has been launched to focus on increasing uptake among Māori and Pacific people between the ages of 60 and 74.

More than 835,000 New Zealanders are eligible for the screening, but only about half are taking up the free, at-home screening.

Patrick Loloma Afeaki lost his wife in 2013. He said she was unaware she had cancer until it was too late.

“She was taken to the hospital, she didn’t know until it was too late… She was told that it’s already spread to her liver and most of the organs and that she was already on stage four,” Afeaki said.

Five years later, he himself was diagnosed with bowel cancer in its early stages.

“I was looking to see what causes cancer and what symptoms that you could detect, when that happens. And I realised that in early 2018 I had blood in my bowel motions, and I knew that there was a symptom of bowel cancer.

“I immediately told my family doctor who referred me to the hospital… I was given colonoscopy and they removed 24 polyps and one of them had cancer in it,” Afeaki said.

He then had four rounds of chemotherapy – and said he was lucky it had not yet spread to other parts of his body.

He was at a campaign launch on Auckland’s North Shore on Wednesday morning, saying it was important to make the conversation about bowel cancer screening more acceptable and less taboo.

“It’s a matter of educating people and listening to their whānau. Mum and dad were from the Islands, their children were born here. Mum and dad will listen to their children, their children [don’t] want to lose them,” he said.

Associate Minister of Health Aupito William Sio at the bowel cancer screening campaign launch.

Associate Minister of Health Aupito William Sio at the bowel cancer screening campaign launch. Photo: Supplied

Bowel cancer is the second-highest cause of cancer death in New Zealand, a country which has some of the highest rates of bowel cancer in the world.

More than 1200 people die from the disease every year, most of them Māori and Pasifika.

The screening programme is available across the whole country, and has detected over 1400 cancers and thousands of pre-cancerous polyps since it began in 2017. But its uptake could be wider.

The head of the Māori Health Authority, Riana Manuel, said at-home bowel screening could help save hundreds of lives.

“One of the biggest problems we have is that because we often present so late in the piece, that’s the reason why our prognosis is usually very poor. So if you put that into a context of those preventable deaths, 25 percent of them will be wāhine Māori and about 10 percent tāne Māori. So we’ve got a lot of work to do and it’s a reason to get motivated,” she said.

Wednesday’s campaign launch followed a government budget announcement that the screening age for Māori and Pacific people would be lowered from 60 to 50, starting with trials in Waikato and Tairāwhiti, then nationwide by July next year.

Associate Minister of Health Peeni Henare said the move to lower the age would help save more lives.

“This is an important step towards addressing a health inequity, as a higher proportion of Māori and Pacific people get bowel cancer before they become eligible for screening at age 60.”

More than $36 million will go towards the four-year shift that the government estimates will make an extra 60,000 people eligible for screening each year.

Henare said early detection was crucial in helping prevent further deaths

“People who are diagnosed with early-stage bowel cancer have a 90 per cent chance of long-term survival if they get timely treatment. Making sure our whānau access bowel screening means more of our mothers, fathers, aunties and uncles enjoying a life that would otherwise have been cut tragically short.”

More Tongan children will be orphaned in New Zealand by rising diabetes-related deaths

By
Kaniva Staff
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There is an upward trend of Tongan children being orphaned in New Zealand due to their parents dying young because of diabetes-related conditions, an expert says.

Some Pacific Islanders, who were in their 40s, have died of diabetes, while others ended up on dialysis treatment at Middlemore Hospital.

Dr Viliami Tūtone, a Tongan nephrologist at the hospital said some Tongan orphans have been as young as 10 years old.

These children “have no mothers and the number is expected to grow”, he told Kaniva Tonga news in an exclusive interview.

“When patients are brought for dialysis their bodies have already been hugely affected by the damage to their vascular system and problems with the kidneys,” he said.

Dr Viliami Tūtone. Photo/Screenshot

Dr Tūtone said the Ministry of Health’s latest record for June 2022 showed 743 people were on dialysis at Middlemore hospital. He said 447 or 60 percent of those patients were Pasifika.

Breaking down the numbers for the Pasifika patients he said 184 were Samoans, 114 were Tongans, 88 were Cook Islanders, 31 were Fijians, 24 were Niueans and other ethnicities were six.

Dr Tūtone said the ” total number is huge”.

He said people should avoid eating fatty food and “consuming too much high-sugar soft drinks” which may lead to weight gain, diabetes, and cardiovascular conditions.

Dr Tūtone said “diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure”.

“Eating the right food and do more physical exercises could help many people avoid these chronic diseases”.

Call for change

The executive director of the Health Promotion Forum of New Zealand, Sione Tu’itahi, said the number was devastating.

Tu’itahi said the New Zealand Government spent about $80,000 a year to treat one patient on dialysis.

“This is apart from other problems, including distress caused to other members of the family who played the caring role and the negative impact on their health and their children’s education,” Tu’itahi said.

Tu’itahi called on Tongans to stay healthy and change their attitudes towards life.

Sione Tu’itahi. Photo/Screenshot

“In my role as executive role and Health Promotion of New Zealand, we are working closely with Dr Tūtone and Dr Viliami Puloka to assist all people in New Zealand including Tongans to fight against diabetes.”

Tu’itahi said people must eat the right food and think about how much they ate.

“Our lives are in our hands, not in the doctor’s hands,” Tu’itahi told Kaniva News.

It is estimated that more than 250,000 people in New Zealand have been diagnosed with diabetes, predominantly type 2.

“Within the New Zealand population, the prevalence of diabetes in Māori and Pacific populations is around three times higher than among other New Zealanders. Prevalence is also high among South Asian populations,” the Ministry of Health Website said.

According to the Tonga Health report Path to Good Health, Tonga has one of the most at-risk populations in the world for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes and obesity.

In the introduction to the report, Tonga Health Minister Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala said: “NCDs will continue to cripple our families, our communities and our nation unless we are strong and take decisive action.”

Under the headline: “How communities in Tonga work together for healthier, longer lives”, the World Bank said the kingdom had one of the highest rates of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the world.

These included cardiovascular disease, cancers, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases, account for approximately 80 per cent of deaths in Tonga

“Smoking, alcohol consumption, poor diet, and lack of physical exercise have all contributed to the ever-growing burden of disease.

“However, local communities are coming together to help construct national policies in order to reverse this trend”.

Fijians hoping for smooth power transfer if govt loses election

By
Kaniva Staff
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By RNZ.co.nz

New research has found Fijians are concerned whether there’ll be a smooth transfer of power should the government lose in this year’s general elections.

The author of the Australian National University paper titled ‘Anticipation and Apprehension in Fiji’s 2022 General Election’, Dr Shailendra Singh, said the economy, including the rising cost of living and the national debt, will be key campaign issues.

The tourism industry, which makes up almost 40 percent of Fiji’s GDP, has been decimated by the closure of international borders due to Covid-19.

Shailendra Singh

Shailendra Singh Photo: USP

As a result almost 115,000 Fijians have lost their main source of income.

Dr Singh said against this backdrop of pressing economic and social issues there are concerns about a smooth transfer of power should Frank Bainimarama’s FijiFirst government lose at the ballots.

He said though the election may be intensely contested, the hope is for a smooth transfer of power should opposition efforts prevail, or risk the derailment of Fiji’s social and economic recovery.

Although campaigning is officially underway in Fiji the government is yet to announce a date for the election although the expectation is now for a November or December poll.

Auckland school closes after anonymous threat made

By
Kaniva Staff
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By RNZ.co.nz

An Auckland boys’ secondary school has closed today after an anonymous threat.

Sacred Heart College in Auckland.

Sacred Heart school in Glen Innes has closed while police probe the threat. Photo: Google Maps

In a notice to the school community, Sacred Heart in Glen Innes said it received a threat on two individuals via social media today.

Headmaster Patrick Walsh said police advised him, given the nature of the threat, to close the school for the rest of the day as they continued their investigation.

He apologised for the inconvenience but said student safety was paramount.

Walsh said they would communicate further information to the community.

Police are treating a threat on Sacred Heart Boys’ College seriously.

They were made aware earlier today of a threat via social media to the school.

Inspector Jim Wilson said locals would notice an ongoing police presence in response to this incident.

“We are treating the matter seriously and are liaising with the school. The school has decided to close for the day out of precaution.”

Police probe after 69-year-old man found dead in apparent suicide

By
Kaniva Staff
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The Police are investigating after a man died on Monday in what they had described as alleged ‘suicide’ while at Mu’a police custody.

Photo/Kaniva Tonga News

It said the deceased, was overly intoxicated, and was arrested and detained by Police on Sunday evening following a complaint and call for assistance from his wife.

“Police found the man dead in a police cell on the morning of Monday, 4th July in circumstances indicating suicide”, Commissioner Shane McLennan said.

McLennan described the situation as “regrettable incident”.

“We are allowing the Professional Standards investigation to take its course. Any negligence of duty is not acceptable and will not be tolerated, as it undermines the commitment of the majority of our police staff and importantly, the trust and confidence of the public that we serve,” Commissioner Shane McLennan said.

 An inquest will be held upon completion of the police investigation.

ACC told to pay up after bullying of ex-employee leads to depression

By
Kaniva Staff
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By Amy Williams of RNZ.co.nz and is republished with permission.

In a first, ACC has been forced to compensate one of its own former staffers for the depression and anxiety she suffered from being bullied on the job.

Former ACC employee Yvette Phillips

Yvette Phillips says the painful experiences she had at ACC during a restructure were so bad these ended her career. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon

The woman was a senior staff member who took her case to court and won and now the agency must provide ongoing cover for a mental injury that happened under its watch.

Yvette Phillips moved her family to Christchurch to take up her dream job working as a policy advisor for ACC but two years later she faced redundancy amidst a restructure.

During a meeting in October 2019 to discuss her potential redeployment, she said her manager was “confrontational and aggressive”, and she left the meeting in tears feeling “ambushed and blindsided”.

While on stress leave, Phillips returned to the office in March 2020 to retrieve her laptop and was publicly humiliated in front of colleagues when another staffer accused her of lying and then stripped her of her laptop.

“It’s extremely painful, honestly. I suppose that’s the best word for it. They were very painful experiences because in fact it’s put an end to my career,” she said.

“I can hear my voice cracking now … to try and take myself back there and describe it is tough. I suppose I’ve kind of closed that book.”

She was diagnosed with major depression and post traumatic stress – and two doctors pointed out either of the events she experienced at work could lead to mental injury in most people.

Knowing ACC’s policy inside out, she put in a claim for cover for a work-related mental injury but it was refused, as was a subsequent review.

But having worked for the policy team, she thought her case was solid and appealed the decision in the Wellington District Court.

In his judgment, released in May, Judge Chris McGuire found that Phillips had suffered a work-related injury.

“The appellant’s accounts of these two incidents in particular are detailed and meticulous. I accept them. The respondent has offered no counter evidence.”

Phillips said it was difficult to speak out and pursue her case.

“It’s only because of my knowledge of ACC, having worked there for seven years, and my understanding of the legislation that I could say to myself: ‘no you know you’ve got this, you know the legislation, you know how this works’,” Phillips said.

“I certainly knew what kind of injuries can be covered, I know what kind of injuries can’t be covered, and I knew that this was a mental injury that was caused in the workplace.”

Phillips will receive weekly payouts after winning the appeal, and is in the final stages of confirming the amount.

ACC is the Crown entity responsible for administering the country’s no-fault accidental injury compensation scheme.

It accepted 81 claims for work-related mental injuries last year, but could not easily identify how many of those related to workplace bullying.

In a statement its chief people and culture officer, Michael Frampton, said as an employer the organisation has only received one mental injury claim for bullying at work but he could not speak about individual employee matters.

“It is important that all our people feel safe and supported while they are at work. ACC does not tolerate bullying or harassment in any form. We encourage our people to raise any concerns, and we provide multiple avenues to do so.”

He said ACC introduced a new policy earlier this year, replacing its previous bullying and harassment policy.

ACC Sign in Wellington

Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver

‘This may open the gates’

Employment specialist Barbara Buckett said Yvette Phillips’ case gave weight to workplace mental injury claims.

“I’m surprised it’s been so long coming and I think it’s ironic that it’s ACC that’s the employer in this case because it’s clear that it always fitted, in my view, within the definitions of the [Accident Compensation] Act, in legislation,” she said.

She has had work-related mental injury claims kicked back and said that Phillips’s case could help others in similar situations seek ongoing cover.

“This is another string to the bow and I think it’s an important one. I think this may open the gates, give people more confidence in going down that route.”

Phillips was glad her situation could pave the way for others to get the justice they deserve.

“For anyone else who doesn’t have that experience and knowledge in that same situation just feeling that there’s nothing out there that can help them. Now knowing that this is underpinned by the Court of Appeal and case law, I think that’s amazing that that could come out of this.”

She has recently returned to the workforce part time.

“It’s been tremendously, tremendously difficult financially so now, two years on, to know that I’ve got cover, and know that I can access what I need to move forward is an intense relief.”

She said the ongoing cover from ACC will allow her to get the therapy she needed two years ago when the bullying occurred.

“Only now has a line drawn under it where I can breathe and say: ‘Well that’s done I got there in the end, I got my voice heard’, but sadly I didn’t get the therapy I needed at the time.”

The 501 deportee Moses Folau’s Alcohol licence bid declined – for now

By
Kalino Latu
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The  Auckland District Licensing Committee has declined a liquor license for  501 deportee from Australia, Moses Folau.

Folau was applying to allow his to sell alcohols for his downtown Auckland private members club.

The committee said it may rule differently in future if he gains more bar management experience, reported the New Zealand Herald.

There were no public objections to the liquor licence application and the medical officer of health did not raise any concerns, the Herald said.

“However, Auckland Council alcohol licensing inspector Scott Evans opposed Folau’s application on the grounds of his criminal history.

“He has 10 convictions in Australia, including a jail term for an assault, and three more since being deported to New Zealand”.

Folau, 38, was deported from Melbourne in 2016 and he appeared on the news at the time after he was “presented with a big bill by the Australian government despite assurances that people sent back to New Zealand won’t be charged”, according to a report by RNZ.

Folau was told to pay $A2886 for airfares for himself and his security escort who travelled here at the time.

Mr Folau, who grew up in Australia since he was six, had been held in Maribyrnong Detention Centre for seven months when he agreed to be deported to New Zealand, fearing he might otherwise be sent to Christmas Island.

“I said I’m not going to sign [the bill] because I have the minister’s statement from December the 8th, 2015, stating that Kiwis … don’t have to pay, he said.

“So they were trying to pretty much stand over me, trying to scare me with cancelling my ticket.”

Covid-19 surge: PM rules out return to red traffic light setting – for now

By
Kaniva Staff
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By RNZ.co.nz

Despite an increase in Covid-19 cases there is no need at present for the country to shift back into the red traffic light setting, the prime minister says.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

Jacinda Ardern says the traffic light settings have been reviewed recently. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver

Covid-19 cases are on the rise again and a new subvariant, BA.2.75, has been detected here for the first time.

There were 9629 new community cases announced today and the seven-day rolling average was 7246 compared with 5480 last Tuesday.

On Friday afternoon, genome sequencing confirmed two cases in New Zealand with the BA.2.75 subvariant of Omicron.

The two cases had recently travelled from India where it had previously been detected.

The Ministry of Health said the characteristics of the subvariant may enhance its ability to evade immunity.

There was early evidence overseas that it might be slightly more transmissible than BA.2.

Speaking in Australia, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the settings were recently reviewed, and New Zealand would only move to red if it would have a material effect on slowing case numbers.

“Keep in mind we have really important rules at the orange setting that are there to protect us,” Ardern said.

“Having just come from Europe, also recently the United States, even being here in Australia I can tell you that New Zealand is still using measures many other countries don’t.”

One main change under red would be gathering limits, however, there was still a question mark over whether that would make much difference, given the notable rise in infections among older New Zealanders.

She said the two most important measures to reduce the spread of the virus were vaccinations and mask use.

“I encourage our older New Zealanders to go out and get that booster shot and for people to keep using their masks and if you’re sick isolate at home.

“The point here is we have to do things that make a difference to what we’re seeing now.”

New Zealand had hung on to mask use and vaccinations partly because winter was putting additional pressure on the country’s health system, Ardern said .

University of Auckland infectious disease expert Dr Siouxsie Wiles told RNZ yesterday that another wave of Covid-19 had been expected and should not come as a surprise.

She urged people to wear masks in “as many situations as they can”, remember to ventilate rooms as much as possible and stay up to date with all vaccine doses.

University of Canterbury professor and Covid-19 modeller Michael Plank said infections could potentially hit a similar peak to the first March wave of around 20,000 cases per day.

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