The Public Health Agency, within the Ministry of Health, is the Government's lead adviser on public health and mental health.​

The team's expertise guides our advice to Government on mental health, addictions, and suicide prevention. 

But this is more than welcoming some new colleagues into the Agency. It’s an opportunity to more demonstrably value mental wellbeing as a core part of our collective health. 
 
Mental health affects every aspect of our lives, from our relationships and productivity to our ability to thrive in our communities. Bringing it alongside public health creates opportunity for a more holistic, equitable, and proactive approach—with a greater focus on prevention and the social determinants of mental wellbeing. 
 
This is both a challenge and an incredible opportunity. I’m excited to work alongside committed colleagues, communities, and other partners to further our collective aspirations for enhanced mental health and wellbeing. 
 
This edition of Public Health Matters covers some of the recent work of the Mental Health, Addictions, and Suicide Prevention Team within PHA, specifically in the area of eating issues and disorders. In this issue, you’ll also find highlights from across the Agency’s wider mahi—including the publication of Tupu Ola Moui – Pacific Health Chart Book 2025 (Volumes 3–5), and the new FASD Action Plan. Reflecting on this work, I am struck by how much is shared across mental health and public health, particularly in the strong focus on prevention.  

I hope this will help spur your own thinking on how mental health can inform your work, whatever your role.  

After all, there is no health without mental health. 

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Targeted action on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder 

The Public Health Agency has published a new Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Action Plan to provide a coordinated, whole-of-government approach to addressing FASD and its impacts in New Zealand.   

Associate Health Minister Matt Doocey launched the plan on 9 September at an event hosted by the FASD Care Action Network to mark FASD awareness day. 

The plan covers: 

• expanding the highly successful nationwide Nurture the Future Within FASD prevention campaign – raising awareness and supporting prevention efforts

• a community-led FASD programme  for Te Iho Tātai-ā-Rongo, delivered in at least four high-need regional communities. This programme will connect families and professionals, foster collaboration, and provide neurodiversity training

• building stronger workforce across health, justice, social services, and education to better recognise and respond to FASD

• community-led FASD navigators, peer support, and capability building for individuals with FASD. 

Health New Zealand will also set up a targeted a community-based assessment, diagnosis, and early intervention programme to reduce long wait times for support. 

You can read the plan in full on the Ministry of Health website. 

Supporting the dengue response in Samoa

he New Zealand Medical Assistance Team (NZMAT), run out of the PHA, spent much of the past two months supporting the dengue response in Samoa. 

Dengue cases in the Pacific are at their highest level since 2016. Several Pacific Island countries have reported dengue outbreaks this year, including American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu.  

Following a request from the Government of Samoa, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) set up an Emergency Coordination Centre (ECC) to coordinate New Zealand’s support to Samoa, including sending a NZMAT contingent. 

AUSMAT and NZAMT teams with Samoa's Acting Director-General of Health Dr Tagaloa Robert Thomsen.  

Between 8 August and 13 September 2025, NZMAT successfully deployed 31 personnel to Samoa in response to the dengue outbreak. The deployment, conducted in two rotations, saw the second deployment arrive on 28 August, supported by four doctors from the Australian Medical Assistance Team (AUSMAT). Each NZMAT deployment had an MFAT Humanitarian Deployment Team Lead and two-three logisticians from Fire and Emergency NZ.  

While in Samoa, the teams provided support to two high-demand medical sites. Working in close collaboration with local health professionals, NZMAT and AUSMAT personnel ensured the continuity of care for patients, delivering both hospital-based and community-level medical services. 

About NZMAT 
NZMAT is a multi-disciplinary team that provides health specialists with skills, qualifications and training to support a health emergency response. NZMAT is funded by MFAT. Learn more about the team, and how you can get involved, on the Ministry website. 

Focus on immunisation 

The Ministry of Health sponsored and attended the recent Aotearoa New Zealand Immunisation Conference hosted by the Immunisation Advisory Centre in Hamilton on 4-5 September. The conference brought together experts and health professionals from New Zealand, Australia and further afield, specialising in various fields from novel vaccine technology to connecting with families to monitoring the impact of vaccination programmes.  

The Director-General of Health, Audrey Sonerson, opened the conference. While she confessed to some nervousness on the subject of needles herself, she spoke on the importance of immunisation to the health of New Zealand and the challenges ahead for the health system in reaching the Government’s target of 95% of children fully immunised by age 24 months. 

Director of Public Health, Dr Corina Grey, speaking about the impact of immunisation on vaccine-preventable diseases in New Zealand at the Aotearoa New Zealand Immunisation Conference in September. 

Other Ministry speakers included the Director of Public Health Dr Corina Grey, who spoke about the impact of immunisation on vaccine-preventable diseases in New Zealand, and  Samuel Andrews, Policy Manager at the Public Health Agency, who spoke about the different roles held by the government agencies who work together to manage the immunisation programme. They were joined by Health New Zealand Immunisation Programme Lead Nikki Canter-Burgoyne, who spoke about turning policy into practice for immunisation. 

The PHA extends our thanks to the Immunisation Advisory Centre for their hard work and expertise in organising another successful event.

Launch of New Zealand's Eating Issues and Eating Disorders Strategy  

On 3 September, Associate Health Minister and Minister for Mental Health, Matt Doocey, launched the refreshed New Zealand’s Eating Issues and Eating Disorders Strategy.   

This is the first time in 16 years this strategy has been refreshed. It builds on the foundation of the 2008 strategy but brings a strategic approach for moving New Zealand towards a full continuum of care for eating disorders, from prevention and early intervention to specialist treatment and support for individuals and whānau.    

Bringing the strategy to life was the work of many teams across the Ministry, led by the PHA’s Mental Health, Addiction and Suicide Prevention Team. 

You can read the plan on the Ministry of Health website.  

Tupu Ola Moui – Pacific Health Chart Book 2025 Volumes 3, 4 and 5 published 

In the last edition of Public Health Matters, we shared news of the publication of Tupu Ola Moui – Pacific Health Chart Book 2025 Volumes 1 and 2. This time round, we are pleased to share that the final three volumes of the chart book have been published and can be found on the Ministry of Health’s website. 

The series is a joint publication with the Ministry for Pacific Peoples (MPP) and provides comprehensive and up-to-date data on the health of Pacific peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand. Overall, it’s a mixed picture.

These latest volumes show:  

• Life expectancy has improved slightly, but still lags around six years behind non-Māori, non-Pacific people. 

• Cost is rarely a barrier for Pacific children. Deaths from respiratory and cardiovascular disease are declining, and more Pacific peoples who need cardiovascular risk assessments are receiving them. 

• Pacific peoples have the highest rates of obesity, gout, and diabetes and lower screening rates and survival rates for some cancers.

• Immunisation rates have declined, and cost was a barrier in the past year with one in five Pacific adults missing their GP visit. 

Tupu Ola Moui supports the Ministry of Health to deliver on the Government’s ongoing commitment to improving health outcomes for all including Pacific peoples, aligning with Te Mana Ola: The Pacific Health Strategy, and the Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Health. 

New voluntary guidance for hairdressers and barbers 

And lastly, in a demonstration of the breadth of the PHA’s work, in July we published new public health guidance designed to help hairdressers and barbers keep their clients safe by reducing the risk of spreading infections. 

The guidance, which is voluntary, provides advice on hygiene, equipment handling, and cleaning processes. It is applicable to all types of hairdressing and barber services, including salons, mobile and home-based setups, and temporary setups like those at fairs or rest homes. 

The guidance was developed following the Ministry for Regulation’s Hairdressing and Barbering Regulatory Review earlier this year. This review recommended revoking the Health (Hairdressers) Regulations 1980 and developing new guidance to manage public health risks. In response, Cabinet agreed to remove the Health (Hairdressers) Regulations 1980 made under the Health Act 1956, effective from 31 July 2025. 

You can read the guidelines in full on the Ministry of Health website