Public Health Advisory Committee

Te Ropo Tohutohu i te Hauora Tumatanui

The Public Health Advisory Committee (PHAC) is a statutory sub-committee of the National Health Committee (NHC). It provides the New Zealand Minister of Health with independent advice on public health issues.

On this website you can find out more about us, including our work programme, health impact assessment, news, media releases and download PHAC publications.

News and Updates

12 Dec: Re-thinking urban environments and health
Rethinking urban environments and health is a set of five thinkpieces commissioned by the Public Health Advisory Committee (PHAC) that provide insights into the links between urban environments and health that are not necessarily reflected in the academic literature. The document provides value by stimulating ideas related to a range of topics including transport and mobility, sustainability, health and wellbeing and Māori connections to urban environments.

18 Sep: Request for proposals (RFP) - Links between urban planning and public health (www.gets.govt.nz)

The Public Health Advisory Committee (PHAC) is undertaking a project on the links between the urban environment (cities, towns and smaller settlements) and health/wellbeing. As part of this project, the PHAC is seeking proposals for a commissioned work on the common roots and subsequent histories of public health and urban planning in New Zealand.

The history will provide a commentary on key milestones and where possible, identify where there has been divergence and convergences in populations, regions and time periods. Where appropriate a review of implications for specific populations, such as Maori, should be part of this analysis.

For this purpose, a historical researcher or a professional from an allied field (with knowledge of urban planning and public health) is sought to provide an analysis of the links between urban planning and public health for the period from the 1840s to the 1990s.

The RFP is now available on the Government Electronic Tenders Service website.

5 Sep: 2008 is the 30th anniversary of Alma Ata, a landmark event in the history of health policy.
In 1946 the World Health Organisation's definition of health declared health to be 'more than the absence of disease'. This view was expanded with respect to primary health care at the Alma Ata conference in 1978. Participants saw the need to recognise the many dimensions of wellbeing and agreed that primary health care should be people-focussed, informed by principles including accessibility and participation.

In this anniversary year, the work programme of the Public Health Advisory Committee continues to reflect the spirit of Alma Ata. Through projects addressing concerns such as Child Health as well as the health implications of the Urban Environment, the Committee's work continues to follow the WHO in seeing disease and impairment as a necessary but not sufficient focus. Rather we see health as connected to the quest for equity in opportunities and outcomes, and the development of a just society.

View full list of news and updates

Page last updated: 12 December 2008.