Kia ora Chris,

  

Thank you for your request for official information. The reference number
for your request is: H2024055630

  

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Health will endeavour to respond to your request no later than 20 working
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Ngā mihi 

 

OIA Services Team 

[4]Ministry of Health information releases 

 

 

------------------- Original Message -------------------
From: Chris Johnston <[email address]>; 
Received: Sat Nov 09 2024 23:20:51 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
To: OIA Requests <[email address]>; OIA <[email address]>; 
Subject: Official Information request - Evidence Briefs from the Evidence
Research and Innovation Directorate - Fluoride and Long COVID

Dear Ministry of Health,

BACKGROUND
In OIA H2024053399 it was stated in a reply on 6 November 2024: 

"The Ministry’s Evidence, Research and Innovation Directorate was
established in July 2022 and includes several teams that undertake horizon
scanning as well as maintaining a watching brief on key issues of
relevance to the health portfolio. Recent examples include updated
evidence briefs on community water fluoridation and Long COVID-19."

On 24 October 2024 the MoH responded to an OIA with the subject: "Impact
of U.S. Federal Court Ruling on Fluoridation on New Zealand’s Policies"
stating:

"As was required by the New Zealand High Court, the Director-General is
undertaking a Bill of Rights analysis of the directions to ensure that
section 11 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 is considered. This
will include consideration of scientific evidence, and local circumstances
in each locality subject to a direction. The Ministry is ensuring it is
using the most current information since the directions were made in 2022,
where this is available. The Ministry keeps a watching brief on the
national and international evidence base.

In 2014, a comprehensive report was published by the Royal Society Te
Apârangi, prepared jointly with the Office of the Prime Minister’s Chief
Science Advisor, reviewing the substantial

body of scientific evidence on the efficacy and safety of fluoridation of
public water supplies.

The report concluded that there are no adverse health effects of any
significance from fluoridation levels used in New Zealand. In June 2021,
the Office of the
Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor released an evidence update, which
confirmed that the conclusions of the 2014 report remain appropriate. You
can find these
reviews online at:

[1]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

QUESTIONS

1) Please provide the latest Evidence Briefs created by the Ministry’s
Evidence, Research and Innovation Directorate on community water
fluoridation and Long COVID-19.

2) If work on the Evidence Briefs requested in (1) is currently underway
and cannot be released then please provide the correspondence that
initiated the work - including the terms of reference, any instructions on
objectives and scope etc, and any resulting communication (eg clarifying
questions, meeting minutes and instructions for delegated work packages).
Please also provide the planned completion date.

3) Please identify which group within the MoH is "undertaking the Bill of
Rights analysis of the directions to ensure that section 11 of the New
Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 is considered".  Please provide the
correspondence that initiated the work - including the terms of reference,
any instructions on objectives and scope etc, and any resulting
communication (eg clarifying questions, meeting minutes and instructions
for delegated work packages). Please also provide the planned completion
date.

4) Please provide any evidence that the Evidence Briefs by Ministry’s
Evidence, Research and Innovation Directorate on Community fluoridation
and the review regarding the Bill of Rights are coordinated. This could
for example be an email trail confirming that the two teams are
communicating, or possibly a revised Evidence Brief being provided to the
Bill of Rights review.  There may be other ways to provide this evidence -
eg a project plan showing that the draft outcomes of both work streams
will be considered together before either complete.

Yours faithfully,

Chris Johnston
 
 
 

From: Chris Johnston <[FOI #29127 email]>
Sent: Sunday, 10 November 2024 11:14
To: OIA Requests <[email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - Evidence Research and Innovation
Directorate - List of Evidence Briefs Produced

 
Dear Ministry of Health,

In OIA H2024053399 it was stated that "The Ministry’s Evidence, Research
and Innovation Directorate was established in July 2022."

Please provide a list of all the Evidence Briefs created, delivered or
underway by the Evidence Research and Innovation Directorate since it was
established in July 2022.

Against each Evidence Brief please indicate:
- Status (eg completed, underway)
- Who requested it (eg Minister, GM of another Directorate)
- A short description of the problem or question being addressed by the
work (which for example could be extracted from the intro or executive
summary).

If it is easier from an OIA workload perspective, I am happy to receive
all the completed Evidence Briefs, and a separate list of those underway
with a short description.

Please Consult early if there are any questions.

Yours faithfully,

Chris Johnston
 
 
 

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