It is widely acknowledged healthy spirituality is good for mental health. Can the same be said for religion, Graham Redding asks. Awareness of the contribution that spirituality can make to health has come a long way. Spiritual care Aotearoa’s healthcare system adopts a holistic approach, often encapsulated in the Māori model of health, te whare Read more
If women are free to choose whether to have an abortion, taxpayers should be free to choose if they contribute taxes to fund their choice. In a recent statement, the pro-life advocacy group Right to Life argues that while taxpayers have a moral obligation to contribute their taxes, they should not be obligated to fund Read more
The economic cost of lockdowns means families should be allowed to let elderly relatives with COVID die by letting nature take its course. The comments come from staunch Catholic and former Australian Liberal Party Prime Minister, Tony Abbott. Abbott claims COVID is costing as much as A$200,000 (~NZ $220,000) to give an elderly person an Read more
Cannabis-based products will be allowed to bypass usual processes required for medicines in New Zealand and go directly onto the market without any proof of safety or effectiveness. This unprecedented proposal is contained in the government’s consultation document on giving greater access to medicinal cannabis. Read more
Navilluso Medical, a healthcare company is a finalist in the Callaghan Innovation Māori Innovation Award and in the Kiwibank Hi-Tech Innovative Services Award. The company was established by Kaitaia GP, Dr Lance O’Sullivan and his wife Tracy O’Sullivan Both nominations are due in large part to iMOKO™, a healthcare software program which utilises technology to deliver high Read more
The Vatican’s updated charter for healthcare workers has been published. It provides a clear set of guidelines to modern ethical concerns such as euthanasia and the creation of human-animal chimeras. Read more
Healthcare is not a business as lives are at stake, Pope Francis says. He said in his view any public policy or private initiative regarding health care that does not make the dignity of the human person its central concern “engenders attitudes that can even lead to exploitation of the misfortune of others. And this Read more
Pharmac wants to know: Should young people be able to jump queues for costly drugs at the expense of older people who’ve already had a long life? Are poor people more deserving of help than rich people”? The proposals are among a raft of provocative questions being asked by Pharmac as it conducts a consultation Read more
Bodies are machines, says Associate Professor Geoff Shaw, an intensive care specialist in Christchurch. He’s passionate about bridging the gap between engineering and medicine, using that connection to help unravel the secrets of human machines. There’s truth in what he says about the human body, especially when viewed from the highly mechanized intensive care environment where Read more
People, society and the healthcare systems themselves would benefit from a return to a values-based approach to healthcare argues New Zealand Marist, Gerald Arbuckle in his new book, “Humanizing Healthcare Reforms“. In his book Arbuckle argues that a values-based approach would change healthcare and systems and be a much better approach to healthcare than the Read more