New Zealand adults are on average the second heaviest among 50 countries, a health list reveals - prompting warnings of a looming medical crisis for some Kiwis.

A damning report of the country's only Kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has found the organisation is "seriously dysfunctional" and recommended urgent action to protect patients and staff.

CCS Disability Action is pleased that an extra 110 students will now have access to the Intensive Wrap-Around Service. CCS Disability Action’s Chief Executive, David Matthews, said that the expansion of the Intensive Wrap-Around Service meant that more students and families will have access to support.

More young New Zealanders in need of glasses to correct their vision have received free spectacles through a Government-funded subsidy.

Coeliac Awareness Week – 26 May - 1 June - Going gluten-free is more than just a diet fad for coeliac disease sufferers, who have a permanent intolerance to gluten and can suffer long term health problems if not diagnosed.

Listening to patients’ experiences to determine how to improve the health system is the aim of two consumer representatives on West Coast District Health Board’s Clinical Board.

Vulnerable families and children are increasingly being denied access to much-needed counselling services, the New Zealand Association of Counsellors is warning.

Labour MPs have banded together to give a significant boost to a local cancer charity by donating 20 percent of its Flight Against Cancer dinner and auction event sales to Wellington community groups.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) confirmed today that normal supplies of the Varilrix vaccine for the chickenpox virus will be available again within two weeks.

A University of Canterbury (UC) health sciences researcher has called for public places such as bus stops, train stations, ferry terminals, streets, urban centres and beaches to be declared smoke-free.

The Medical Council today corrected misconceptions regarding its role following the review of the Teachers Council.

A pioneering programme to test cancer patients for nearly 100 risk genes is to start in London and could represent the future of treatment in the NHS. It will look for genes such as those which led Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie to have a double mastectomy.

Preschools and childcare centres in New South Wales may be given the legal right to refuse to enrol children who have not been vaccinated.

Vitamin D could help asthma patients breathe more easily, British researchers claim. Scientists at King's College London have discovered vitamin D has the potential to significantly cut the symptoms of sufferers.

Time-lapse imaging which takes thousands of pictures of developing embryos can boost the success rate of IVF, according to British research. The method, reported in Reproductive BioMedicine Online, can be used to select embryos at low risk of defects.

The amount of time asthma patients spend soaking up the sun may have an impact on the illness, researchers have suggested. A team at King's College London said low levels of vitamin D, which is made by the body in sunlight, was linked to a worsening of symptoms.

The hunt for a HIV vaccine has gobbled up $US8 billion ($NZ9.87 billion) in the past decade, and the failure of the most recent efficacy trial has delivered yet another setback to 26 years of efforts.

Over 250,000 Green Prescriptions have been issued to New Zealanders from their GP or practice nurse to encourage them to eat healthier, get active and improve their health since the initiative began.

The Salvation Army’s first State of the Nation report on Pasifika people in New Zealand reveals communities making modest progress in the face of great adversity.

 

The free health information and advice phone service Healthline – 0800 611 116 – has just chalked up its three millionth call.