The Wire with Joel

Following the deaths of two infants, doctors and scientists worry that this winter could see a whooping cough epidemic unlike those seen in recent years. Helen Petousis-Harris is an associate professor of primary health at the University of Auckland, and she spoke to Simon about the low vaccination rates and those that are at the most risk in the community. Simon started by asking Helen what whooping cough is.

Morgan Donoghue is the spokesperson for Ours Not Mines, an organisation that is standing up against the mining company OceanaGold and the New Zealand government over a proposed gold mine on conservation land in the Coromandel. In 2017 the Labour government promised no more mines on conservation land, yet OceanaGold is in the process of acquiring resource consent for a gold mine under conservation land. Simon began by getting Morgan to explain what OceanaGold is doing in the Coromandel and the implications of the proposed mine.

Better housing, income equality, and better access to healthcare and education are some of the things researchers believe will improve the quality of living for Pasifika children in Aotearoa. The recommendations are in a report titled Tamaiti Ole Moana, and alongside the recommendations of the report is a 10-year-pacific health plan driven to provide better outcomes for Pacific children and families. 

The health plan focuses on improving Pasifika’s access to quality housing, boosting incomes, improving access to quality healthcare, and finally, a quality education. 

Andre Fa'aoso spoke with Dr Teuila Percival, Paediatrician and Director of Moana Connect in the studio this morning. I first asked her whether the government had been receptive to the report.

Mātai Medical Research Institute and the Auckland Bioengineering Institute are working on new research to generate complete computerised models of children’s physiology, particularly internal organs. 

Currently, the only modelling data available is incomplete, from overseas, or of adult organs. Researchers hope to develop an idea of what normal physiology for New Zealand children looks like in order to allow for earlier detection of abnormalities.

Arno spoke to Dr Haribalan Kumar of the Auckland Bioengineering Institute to find out more. 

Arno started our interview by asking why complete child physiology models were only now being created.