About the Ministry of Health

International linkages

The Ministry of Health maintains active links with international health organisations and other health Ministries to achieve the following goals.

• To protect New Zealand against international health threats such as pandemic influenza.
• To learn from other countries' experiences, and international debate, on ways to organise, manage and deliver health services, including best practice and new innovations. New Zealand also contributes data to international organisations (eg. the World Health Organization, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Commonwealth Fund) to benchmark performance against other countries.
• To provide support and assistance to less developed countries, particularly in the Pacific region. This recognises that health in Pacific nations strongly impacts on the health of Pacific populations in New Zealand.

The Minister of Health has a central role in this activity.

International contacts

The World Health Organization (WHO) is the primary global agency for international health activity. It is a forum for debate on issues such as the performance of health systems, improved surveillance methods, reporting and control of communicable diseases, and ways to reduce non-communicable diseases. New Zealand belongs to the Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) of the WHO, and is currently a representative of the Western Pacific Region on the WHO executive board.

New Zealand maintains links with the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation), the Commonwealth Fund (a non-government organisation based in Washington that conducts comparative health policy research), and other regional and global organisations.

New Zealand has signed ‘arrangements for health co-operation’ with the health Ministries (or equivalent) of China, British Colombia and recently with the Cook Islands.

The Commonwealth

New Zealand maintains active links with health Ministers and authorities elsewhere in the Commonwealth. Regular Commonwealth Health Ministers Meetings occur prior to the World Health Assembly in Geneva, in May each year.

Australia

Meetings with Australian Ministers of Health occur regularly at the federal, state and territory levels, under the auspices of the Australian Health Ministers’ Conference. This provides a forum for Ministers to discuss issues of mutual interest and is supported by the Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council, made up of chief executives from the states, territories and federal Department of Health.

Pacific links

Hosted by WHO and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), Pacific Health Ministers meet every two years to consider regional initiatives and collaboration on existing or emerging health issues. New Zealand and Australia are invited as observers to the meetings. The next meeting will be in March 2009 in Papua New Guinea.

In addition to these Ministerial meetings, there are frequent contacts at officer level between the Ministry and its Pacific counterparts, often concerning requests for technical advice. The Ministry also participates in key regional initiatives in areas such as pandemic preparedness and drinking water quality.

International conventions

There are two international treaties New Zealand is party to that specifically relate to health, and several others that have implications for health and disability (eg. concerning the rights of children, women, migrant workers, and people with disabilities).

The framework convention on tobacco control

The framework convention on tobacco control is the WHO’s first international treaty. The World Health Assembly adopted the text in May 2003, and it came into force on 28 February 2005. Currently 160 member countries of the WHO are party to it. New Zealand participated actively in the framework's development, signed it in June 2003, and ratified it in January 2004. It is a relatively strong convention covering issues such as tobacco advertising, price and tax measures, and packaging and labelling of tobacco products.

The International Health Regulations (IHR)

New International Health Regulations (IHR) were adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2005, and came into force on 15 June 2007. These regulations are binding on New Zealand, as they are on most WHO member states.

The IHR focuses on the early detection and response to disease outbreaks and other public health events of international significance. They are a key mechanism to prevent and control the spread of disease between countries, and provide the primary international legal framework for both the WHO and its 194 member states to assess and respond to emerging international threats to public health. The adoption by WHO, and implementation by countries like New Zealand, is a critical part of both emergency preparedness and routine surveillance and control of communicable disease.

The Public Health Bill, proposed to replace the Health Act 1956, would be the main statutory instrument for fully giving effect to New Zealand’s obligations under the IHR.

Under the IHR 2005, all countries need a national focal point as a whole of government communication channel with WHO and to oversee national preparedness for a wide range of public health threats. In New Zealand this role belongs to the Office of the Director of Public Health.

Other agreements

Reducing the harmful use of alcohol is currently under discussion by WHO members and is likely to be the focus for a new international health convention in future.