Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Radio New Zealand

A newly approved weight loss drug could improve competition but will still be costly for patients, an obesity doctor says.

Mounjaro is a self-administered injection which received regulatory approval for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and chronic weight management in December last year.

It is now available by prescription in some New Zealand pharmacies.

Obesity doctor Dr Chaey Leem told Morning Report the drug targeted two hormones when Wegovy, a weight-loss medication already on the market, only targeted one.

“You can kind of think of the medication unlocking two doors instead of one in your body’s metabolism,” he said.

Leem said that increased the drug efficacy.

“At the maximum doses of Mounjaro, patients on average have lost 22 percent of the initial weight in the trail, compared to 15 percent on the maximum dose of Wegovy.”

The cost of the drug was a barrier for some patients, he said.

Mounjaro is pricier than Wegovy, ranging from $430 to nearly $900 a month.

“Competition will hopefully help improve the situation for many patients, however, in fact there still might be a long way to go,” Leem said.

“The drugs are very expensive, and I do feel for the patients who need it the most but aren’t able to afford a really great option that’s available.”

Leem said there was a lot of stigma against obesity, which he hoped could be reduced through treatment.

“Once we have the tools to fight them and treat patients, hopefully the stigma towards obesity goes down, and in turn we can look into other options like bariatric surgery, which is usually much more cost effective from a public health perspective,” he said.

Leem had patients he believed would benefit from the new medication, if price weren’t a factor.

“There’s risks and benefits to everything, but for the many, many patients, the benefits greatly outweigh the risks that the medications can impose.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

More than double the planned number of primary care nurses will begin advanced training this year, following strong demand for the government’s new scholarship.

Health Minister Simeon Brown said the government had originally committed to funding 120 primary care registered nurses each year for four years to undertake advanced education through its new Registered Nurse Primary Care scholarships, and become registered nurse prescribers – but this year, it would fund 235.

Brown said there had been a “very high level of demand”, and the extra places could be offered within existing funding.

Placements would begin from the week of 23 February.

Of those 235 – who were registered nurses already working in primary and community healthcare settings – 147 would work towards a postgraduate diploma in prescribing, and 88 would undertake a master of nursing.

Nurses who completed those qualifications could prescribe from an approved list of medicines for common and long-term conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, respiratory conditions, and menopause symptoms.

The health minister said this additional training capacity came at an important time following the recent expansion of prescribing rights announced in December.

Te Whatu Ora national chief nurse Nadine Gray said it would improve access to prescriptions for New Zealanders, with more healthcare workers able to see patients and prescribe.

She said these nurses would train at a number of universities across the country, undertaking a mixture of pharmacology post-graduate papers and completing clinical hours under supervision.

Gray said nurse prescribers could go on to become nurse practitioners, who through a masters degree, would have the ability to see, diagnose, prescribe, treat and manage patients as independent practitioners without the need for GP oversight.

“Some nurses probably applied for scholarships or funding through the old DHBs or their districts, but this is far greater than what we’ve had before,” she said.

The scholarship covered course fees and clinical supervision requirements, being released to be able to study – “it’s a real wrap-around supportive scholarship so the nurse is successful”.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Auckland Council is hoping recent tragic dog attacks, including a fatal attack, will make the government step in and make changes.

On Tuesday, 62-year-old Mihiata Te Rore was killed by dogs while visiting a home in the Northland town of Kaihu.

Then on Saturday, three people were injured after two dogs attacked people in the Christchurch suburb of Bryndwr.

The attacks have sparked calls for an overhaul of the Dog Control Act – with Te Rore being the fourth person killed by dogs in the past four years.

Speaking to Morning Report, Auckland Council general manager of licensing and compliance Robert Irvine said the council had been calling for change for almost a year.

The issue of roaming dogs – with a number of attacks on young kids – was “really, really bad and it just keeps on getting worse”, Irvine said.

In Auckland alone, Irvine said there were 17,000 reports of roaming dogs every year – putting the community at risk.

“We want people to be out and about, enjoying our parks, going for walks and having the fear of being attacked by a dog is not something that we want.”

The Dog Control Act was nearly 30 years old and very outdated, Irvine said.

“We’ve been calling for change on this for almost a year and the key things we are looking at is changing it to be more proactive.

“We need greater powers for those that just aren’t actually listening to the current rules. So things like getting on top of the problem, more powers around desexing – we need more dogs desexed out there and we need the dog control act to give us that power to do that.”

Irvine said the council impounded about 10,000 dogs per annum – releasing most of them – and being able to desex them before release was a power the council wanted to help control the issue of breeding.

The council also wanted the power to cease dogs if necessary. He said in one case, more than 20 dogs were found on a residential property and it had no power to take them – having to go through a “lengthy” process before it could disqualify the owner for having too many.

“Up to now, we’ve been told the changes aren’t on the government’s agenda but we’re hoping after, sadly, these tragic events that the government will now actually step in and make some changes.”

Auckland Council had upped its dog control spend by about $10 million last year – needing extra animal management officers among other initiatives – meaning its spend was now about $25m per year.

But its initiatives were not enough – and changes were needed to the Act, Irvine said.

Local Government Minister Simon Watts previously said he was seeking advice on how central government could respond to the attacks and the Dog Control Act.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand