Letitia’s Message

Kia Ora koutou,

It’s been a busy few months at the Foundation with our team working hard on a range of projects, including our Political Manifesto, a document outlining what actions we want from the next Government on respiratory health.

For too long, respiratory health has been under-resourced in New Zealand which is one of the reasons we continue to see such poor health outcomes for so many in our respiratory community. In our manifesto, which is now available on the Foundation's website, we are asking for some practical actions from the next Government, including the introduction of a National Respiratory Clinical Network. This type of network exists for other conditions, and it would mean better co-ordination of services and improved standards across the country. It would help ensure that every Kiwi can access the same level of respiratory care, no matter where they live.

Our first ever Asthma in New Zealand Survey, will be released this month. We had almost 500 people respond to this survey sharing their experiences of living with asthma. What they told us was deeply concerning.

Our survey found more than half of our respondents had poorly controlled asthma, and that many Kiwis are not using basic asthma management tools or receiving adequate asthma care. Additionally, we found that 55% of people surveyed are worried about being able to access asthma treatment when they need it, and 39% are worried about the costs associated with asthma. You can read more about our findings on page 7 or you can read the full report on our website.

This survey is yet more evidence that urgent changes are needed to respiratory care in New Zealand. We have made several recommendations as a result of this report, including that Te Whatu Ora provides dedicated funding to ensure that everyone diagnosed with asthma receives an annual ‘Warrant of Fitness’ asthma review from a healthcare practitioner. We want these checks to include an asthma control test, peak flow measurements, inhaler technique checks and related updates to asthma action plans.

In some good news, we welcomed the announcement that the $5 pharmacy prescription co-payment is to be scrapped from 1 July. This will remove a very real barrier that has prevented many from being able to pick up regular medications and manage their conditions well.

The Foundation also applauds the recent decision by the Australian Government to ban recreational vaping. This is a bold move and one that will protect the lung health of future generations. In New Zealand, unfortunately, we are a long way from being able to implement something similar, but there are things that the Government could do immediately to make a difference.

These include banning disposable vapes, reducing the maximum nicotine limit to 20 mg/ml and halting further approvals of specialist vape retail stores in New Zealand. The Foundation will continue to push for these changes.

Finally, it was my great pleasure earlier in the year to receive the 2023 President’s Award from the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand for my advocacy and education work on vaping. Both the Foundation and I have come under a lot of criticism for our stance around the harms of youth vaping. Our motivation has always been to protect the respiratory health of Kiwis, and we remain committed to this goal.

Noho ora mai

Letitia Harding Chief Executive