Environmental Health Indicators Newsletter 20
June 2020
Welcome to the latest issue of the Environmental Health Indicators (EHI) newsletter.
Greetings as we slowly return to some pre-COVID-19 normality. Although working remotely for three months, the EHI team continued to meet weekly via zoom, produce several factsheets and publish the social vulnerability indicators for natural hazards, pandemics and other emergencies on our website. The considerably revamped Healthspace, one of of our essential data visualisation tools, is to be launched in the next week or so. With so many now back in the office, it is strange to see physical people rather than faces surrounded by a computer screen.
I would also like to acknowledge the enthusiastic support the EHI programme has received from Professor Jane Mills, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, College of Health. Jane, who is returning to Australia to take up an appointment as Dean and Head of La Trobe Rural Health School at La Trobe University in Bendigo, has been our champion at Massey.
As always, please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any suggestions, comments, or advice about the EHI programme. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with you and your colleagues.
Social vulnerability indicators for natural hazards, pandemics and other emergencies
We have recently developed a set of social vulnerability indicators for New Zealand for 2018. These social vulnerability indicators can be used to identify geographic areas with people who are more vulnerable to the negative impacts of natural hazards, pandemics (such as COVID-19) and other emergencies. These indicators mostly use data from the 2018 Census.
These indicators provide valuable information for action for the health sector, local authorities, and government agencies.
You can explore online interactive maps of the indicators for New Zealand, using the Story Map we have developed:
You can also explore the indicator data by territorial authority, using the Data Explorer we have developed. This Data Explorer has interactive tables, heatmaps and geographic maps of the indicators, and is a useful tool for local authorities:
These indicators build on a set of social vulnerability indicators for flooding that we developed using 2013 Census data.
For more information about the social vulnerability indicators, visit the Social vulnerability indicators for natural hazards webpage. If you have any questions or feedback about the indicators, please contact Kylie Mason or the EHI team.
Recent Updates
In 2018, there were 7,182 asthma-related hospitalisations among children aged 0-14 years.
Asthma hospitalisation rates were twice as high in the most deprived areas (NZDep2013 quintile 5) as in the least deprived areas (quintile 1) in 2018, after adjusting for age. Auckland, Lakes, Hawke’s Bay and Hutt Valley District Health Boards (DHBs) were the DHBs with the highest asthma hospitalisation rates in 2018.
For more information, please visit our website.
Socioeconomic deprivation profile
We have updated the Socioeconomic deprivation profile section on our webpage with the latest NZDep2018. This section provides information on socioeconomic deprivation, using the New Zealand Index of Deprivation (NZDep). We have updated this section with a map and description of NZDep2018 at the Statistical Area 1 and 2 (SA1 and SA2) levels.
For more information, please visit our website.
2,550 new cases of melanoma were registered in 2017
97% of those registrations were among people of European/Other ethnicity. Registration rates were higher among males than females, significantly so among those aged over 65 years.
For more information, please visit our website.
There were 362 deaths from melanoma in 2016
96% of those deaths were among people of European/Other ethnicity. New Zealand’s melanoma mortality rate has remained fairly stable since 2001 and remains one of the highest in the world.
For more information, please visit our website.
42 infants died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SUDI) in 2016
Historically, New Zealand has had markedly higher rates of SUDI than other developed countries. Though the national rate of SUDI declined significantly between 2001–2016, SUDI accounted for 18% of all infant deaths in that period. One of the risk factors for SUDI is exposure to second-hand smoke.
For more information, please visit our website.
Culex sitiens eradicated from New Zealand
On 5 June 2020, MPI announced the eradication of the Culex sitiens from New Zealand, 2 years after larvae were initially detected in Kaipara Harbour. The eradication was the result of a successful ground surveillance and aerial spraying programme.
For more information, please visit our website.
59% of 5-year-olds and 66% of children in school year 8 were caries-free in 2018
Māori and Pacific children had poorer oral health compared to other ethnicities. Children in school year 8 living in fluoridated areas had higher caries-free levels than their counterparts in non-fluoridated areas.
For more information, please visit our website.
Oil was the main type of fuel consumed in New Zealand between 1990 and 2018
The domestic transport and the industrial sectors were the main consumers of energy in New Zealand in 2018. Together, they contributed to three quarters of the total energy consumption in New Zealand.
For more information, please visit our website.
News from the team
Deborah Read has been employed by Hutt Valley DHB from 1 April to 12 July as a Medical Officer of Health and seconded to MidCentral DHB to assist with the COVID-19 response.
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please feel free to email us.
