Important information for healthcare workers who will be providing or supporting 2022 influenza immunisations. See the front page influenza.org.nz for important information including links to:
Kia ora koutou, Boosters for those aged under 18 years old are not part of the national programme, and are not currently approved by Medsafe. However, individual consumers/caregivers may wish to discuss their specific clinical circumstances with their GP or other specialist to consider ‘off label’ use as described in section 25 of the Medicines Act 1981. This fact sheet provides guidance for clinicians in making decisions about ‘off label’ use of boosters in under 18 year olds. Those groups considered high risk are outlined in the fact sheet. More detail is available in the Immunisation Handbook. Click here for more information Whāraurau is pleased to announce that the Ministry of Health has expanded the access of an online whānau wellbeing resource, and now all whānau across the whole of Aotearoa will now have free and easy access to Triple P Online (TPOL) supports. The following three programmes are made available direct to parents via this website. AccessParents and caregivers simply go to this website and select the course they wish to do. Resources for the Workforce
Kia ora koutou, warm greetings everyone, It is a very busy time as omicron infections increase and staff numbers decrease as people isolate. The amazing work you are doing is appreciated and you can be sure it is directly helping people to stay out of hospital and to keep the community safe. Massive thanks to everyone working on the frontline, and all those supporting them. We have a lot of tips and tricks for those under pressure to easily remember all you need to in your work. We hope this quick summary can give you some support when you're busy. We also have updates on Nuvaxovid from Novavax, post-infection vaccinations, and hot tips to keep on track. Finally, do you know about our Clinical Toolkit? It's a monthly collection of the best information for vaccinators and support workers on COVID vaccinations. If you've not come across it, please take a look and let your colleagues know about it. It includes all the latest updates and tips. Click here for more information Kia ora, Ko Kaipara te awa Ko Pukekaroro te maunga Ko Ngāti Whātua te iwi Ko Te Uri o Hau te hapū Ko Otamatea te marae Ko Liz Lewis-Hills tōku ingoa I am a clinical nurse specialist for diabetes in pregnancy at the Waikato Regional Diabetes service and a Masters of Research study at the University of Auckland. This kaupapa Māori research is strength based aiming to centralise and amplify the voices of Māori wāhine to identify achievable improvements in the delivery of healthcare to Māori hapū māmā living with diabetes. During their pregnancy or up to 12 months post-delivery. The kānohi ki te kānohi (face to face) focus groups will occur throughout the Waikato region (Kirikiriroa (Hamilton), Hauraki (Thames) and Ngati Maniapoto/Raukawa (South Waikato). The focus groups will consist of approximately four – six people, whanau are also welcome. The focus groups will follow the COVID-19 Protection Framework accordingly. If you have any Maori wahine hapu with diabetes that want to be a part of improving diabetes in pregnancy service and outcomes please see recruitment posters attached and/or contact: Liz Lewis-Hills Phone - 021 0231 2096 or email elew444@aucklanduni.ac.nz FundaPen2 Update - Supply Issues Affecting FundaPen2 Rollout Allergy NZ’s FundaPen2 initiative has had a highly successful launch, with more than 600 free EpiPens® delivered to eligible patients in the first two weeks of the programme! While Allergy New Zealand is working full steam ahead to ensure 150mg EpiPens® are available for children with severe allergies, we have unfortunately hit supply issues with 300mg adult EpiPens®. Click here for the FundaPen update Click here for Fundapen Protocol continued...
Freight Delay for Adult Dose EpiPens® Viatris NZ Ltd (ex Mylan), which is the sole supplier of adrenaline auto injectors to New Zealand, has advised us that the order they submitted for adult dose EpiPens® in October last year, will now not arrive until the end of March because of global COVID freight delays. Their advice to prescribers is to not expect FundaPen2 prescriptions for adults to be filled until April 2022 at the earliest. This delay is far from desirable, and we wholeheartedly thank Pub Charity for continuing to support us with their $350,000 donation for free EpiPens®, for everyone who is at risk of anaphylaxis or advised to carry an EpiPen®. Please Keep Prescribing To ensure as many people as possible benefit from FundaPen2, it is important to keep prescribing under the FundaPen2 protocols. Patients will receive their free EpiPen®. It just won’t be within 10 days of submitting your prescription to Queenstown Pharmacy. The pharmacy will fulfil prescriptions for FundaPen2 as soon as stock is available. Once prescriptions for 3,355 FundaPens have been received, normal prescription protocols will apply, and adrenaline auto injectors will once again be self-funded by patients and their families. Why have FundaPen2? The aim of FundaPen2 is to raise awareness and inspire Pharmac and the Ministry of Health to fund two EpiPens®per year for every Kiwi diagnosed at risk of anaphylaxis. We estimate the cost of such a decision to be less than $5 million per year - a small price to pay to look after the estimated 20,000 New Zealanders living at risk of anaphylaxis. Thank you for your ongoing support of the allergy community. In November 2021 we announced the decision to widen access to adalimumab and award Principal Supply to Amgevita, a citrate-free biosimilar adalimumab. Amgevita will be listed in the Pharmaceutical Schedule from 1 March 2022. What does this change mean From 1 March 2022, most patients currently using Humira will need to transition to Amgevita. There are some key actions that healthcare professionals can take to support this change.
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More information You can find more information about this change, and what it means for you, on the Pharmac website. Resources are available to support you and your patients with this change: He Ako Hiringa: Biological Medicines Resource Hub He Ako Hiringa: Transition to adalimumab biosimilar More resources will be released in the coming weeks. We will continue to update the Pharmac website with links to resources to support this change as they become available. Please share this information We want to make sure everyone who needs to know about these changes is aware of them. Please share this information with your colleagues. We want to extend our thanks to you and your colleagues for supporting people with this change. Click here for the mailer Ngā mihi nui, Chief Medical Officer | Tumu Whakarae Haumanu Pharmac Extra support is being made available to Māori and Pacific communities as they continue to face the impact of the current Omicron outbreak.This extra support is in addition to the Care in the Community boost the Government announced last week to help all families who need to self-isolate, as well as the social service organisations and community providers working hard to support them. Omicron is likely to disproportionately affect Māori and Pasifika communities, and the Government is committed to making sure vulnerable whanau received the support and care they deserve. Click here to read the full update 23 February 2022 Got some news to share with the group? Email sector@hinz.org.nz Hi Lisa,Message from the chair of HiNZ-NMIWelcome to 2022! We are resilient in healthcare, but I have had a sense of ‘oh dear, here we go again….’ However we are very used to just ‘rolling with it’ and ‘going with the flow’. What other choice do we have? Healthcare is a rollercoaster at the moment and there are many ebbs and flows on that ride. The use of technology in healthcare continues to make its presence felt within this pandemic (my Dad has even succumbed to getting a smart phone). If we take a look from a more positive point of view, that is certainly something that we can take away from the experiences we have all had over the last two years. When this is all over (note I specifically said ‘when’ not ‘if’) we will have advanced our healthcare services and achieved greater connectivity and technologically competent practitioners. Click here to read the full Newsletter he Government is standing up additional support to help people and whānau who have to self-isolate access the services they need as Omicron cases start to ramp up and more New Zealanders are affected by the virus. With Omicron cases increasing it is important whānau have the support they need to self-isolate and stop the spread of the virus. In recent weeks we have seen an over 60 percent increase in people with no existing MSD relationship needing support, so it is timely for us to be increasing the welfare support provided through the Care in Community approach. Click here for more information |
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March 2022
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