The Natural Health Products Bill will close submissions on Friday, 24 February 2012. The bill hopes to regulate low-risk natural health products in New Zealand.

Waikato District Health Board will be making spending cuts of $20 million for the year beginning in July, following pressure from the Government to reduce spending in the public sector. As a result, it is likely that frontline administration jobs in the health sector will be on the line.

The Canterbury District Health Board is warning the public that the effects of the Christchurch earthquake in February 2011 are still being felt in the health sector. Damage to rooms in Christchurch Hospital has lead to resources being stretched and medical services being split across two hospital sites.

The Southern District Health Board released its serious and sentinel events report for the years 2010–11, revealing 40 medical mishaps. Of the 40 mishaps, one included the death of a patient using a ventilation machine at home following a power failure.

A pregnant woman has lost her baby following an error made at a Waitemata District Health Board hospital where staff mistakenly thought she was having a miscarriage. A drug administered to end the pregnancy was given, however, an ultrasound revealed that the fetus was still alive.

A World Health Organization (WHO) meeting of flu experts and US officials in Geneva has concluded that an H5N1 bird flu study that experimented with the creation of flu mutations, which could potentially fuel a fatal human pandemic, will remain unpublished and censored from scientific publications.

Despite lowering Accident Compensation Corporation levies a few months ago, the Government is now considering raising the levies – according to recent Cabinet papers.

Job cuts by the Hawke's Bay and Bay of Plenty district health boards have caused the New Zealand Nurses Organisation to launch a campaign against health board spending cuts. The nurses' organisation says that job cuts and less spending would be a threat to staff and patient safety.

The latest edition of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry has been released and contains a number of interesting and relevant research articles.

A government report funded by the Health Quality & Safety Commission has revealed that around 5,000 people die every year following surgery. Most deaths were not, however, caused by surgery, though the report indicates that in a small number of cases there were some lessons to be learned.

DHB chief executives have released figures of their spending during the the six-month period from July to December 2011.

An audit of New Zealand's Blood Service has revealed that it is operating at a very high level.

River users should avoid parts of the Hutt River due to widespread growth of potentially toxic cyanobacteria, Greater Wellington and Regional Public Health say.

An article written by American scientists and published in Nature journal argues for the governmental control of selling and distributing sugar – stating sugar's danger to health and its toxicity to the human body. Excess sugar consumption is a leading factor in developing Type 2 diabetes and other metabolic diseases.

The New Zealand Psychological Society (NZPsS) has released a Special Issue of the New Zealand Journal of Psychology that presents sound research and a range of professional experiences related to the changing condition of the population of Canterbury in the aftermath of the last 10,000 shakes and 500 days.

Some Children’s Services at Christchurch Hospital have been temporarily relocated to other parts of the hospital to allow for scheduled earthquake repair work this month.

The NZMA code of ethics prohibits doctors from treating themselves or family, but where should the line be drawn? Do doctors risk losing objectivity when they treat those closest to them?

A flu scare yesterday at Auckland International Airport has been slammed by many as an 'overreaction'. A group of 60 students arriving in Auckland from Tokyo, Japan aboard an Air New Zealand flight were suffering from minor cold symptoms – interpreted by authorities as a health alert.

A performance audit report on the New Zealand Blood Service was tabled in Parliament today by the Office of the Auditor-General.

Kia ora - E te iwi, a cancer education and support programme for Maori, has been gifted to the Maori health community by the Cancer Society. The programme is the result of the Society working collaboratively with Iwi and Maori health providers to develop a Kaupapa Maori cancer education programme to be delivered for Maori by Maori.