MEDIA RELEASE
March 8, 2010
Seasonal influenza (‘flu) vaccine has arrived in New Zealand surgeries and this year more groups of New Zealanders will be able to get free flu protection.
The 2010 seasonal influenza vaccine will include protection against three types of flu, including the Pandemic H1N1 Influenza 09 (swine flu).
· people aged 65 and over;
· anyone under 65 years of age (including children) with long-term health conditions such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, respiratory disease (including asthma), kidney disease and most cancers.
- Pregnant women
- Severely obese people
- Children 6 months to their fifth birthday on the advice of their doctor.
The Ministry of Health and the National Influenza Strategy Group (NISG) advise New Zealanders to take the following steps to keep themselves and their family/whanau safe from flu this winter:
- Get an influenza vaccination – it’s free for many people. Talk to your doctor or nurse about whether a seasonal vaccination is free for you.
- Wash and dry your hands often
- Stay away from people who are sick
- Stay away from work and school if you’re unwell
- Cover your coughs and sneezes
NISG was formed in 2000 by the Ministry of Health to increase public awareness of influenza, its seriousness and the importance of immunisation to prevent the disease.
Focus on home dialysis at Home Therapies 2010 Workshop
Click here if you wish to hear more
World Kidney Day
The following link is relevant for World Kidney Day 2010 with Diabetes a key component in the fight against kidney disease
http://www.viralnet.com.br/ifkf/fast_track_01.htm
2009 Annual Report
Click Here to Download Annual Report
Organ donation and transplantation study
We would like to interview individuals and families who have been involved in making decisions about donating organs and body tissues. We would also like to interview organ donor recipients.
For more information about the study please contact Rhonda Shaw at Victoria University on (04) 463 6134 or email rhonda.shaw@vuw.ac.nz. If you identify as Maori and would like information about the study please contact Dr. Robert Webb at Auckland University of Technology on (09) 921 9999 or email robert.webb@aut.ac.nz.
This research has been approved by the Health and Disability Multi-Region Ethics Committee (MEC/08/03/027). No names will be used in the published research.
Click here for participant information sheet
OVERNIGHT HEMODIALYSIS DRAMATICALLY IMPROVES SURVIVAL
Philadelphia, PA (October 30, 2008) — For hemodialysis patients, undergoing dialysis for eight hours overnight, three times weekly, reduces the risk of death by nearly 80 percent, compared to conventional, four hour
dialysis, according to research being presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 41st Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In a study led by Ercan Ok, MD, of Ege University in Izmir, Turkey, 224 dialysis patients were switched to overnight dialysis. The patients spent three nights a week at the dialysis center where they underwent eight hours of continuous hemodialysis. The patients adjusted well to overnight hemodialysis. "After an adaptation period of a month, all patients slept during the night without any complaint," says Dr. Ok.
The patients remained on overnight hemodialysis for about one year. Their outcomes were compared with those of a similar group of patients who continued on conventional dialysis: four hours, three days per week.
Overnight dialysis led to improvements in a wide range of outcomes. "The hospitalization rate during follow-up was one-fourth of that observed in patients treated with four-hour conventional hemodialysis," comments Dr. Ok. "Most importantly, our results confirmed that longer dialysis produces significantly better
patient outcomes, with a 78 percent reduction in mortality rate."
Patients receiving overnight hemodialysis had better blood pressure control, leading to a two-thirds reduction in blood pressure medications. They were also at lower risk of blood pressure drops during dialysis, a common problem with conventional hemodialysis. Levels of the mineral phosphate decreased toward normal, despite a 72 percent reduction in medications used to lessen phosphate absorption.
The need for other medications decreased as well. All of these outcomes either did not change or deteriorated in patients on four-hour conventional dialysis.
Most patients in the overnight hemodialysis group mentioned an increase in appetite. They gained weight, and their serum protein (albumin) levels increased. Many patients were able to return to work, reporting improved job performance and better mental (cognitive) functioning.
More frequent and/or longer dialysis regimens are a promising alternative to addressing the "unacceptably high" risk of death among dialysis patients, according to Dr. Ok. Although home dialysis is may be the best approach (aside from kidney transplantation), it is not an option for most patients.
Previous studies of overnight, thrice-weekly hemodialysis have shown impressive results, with ten-year survival rates as high as 75 percent. The new trial is the first prospective, controlled study to compare the results of eight-hour versus four-hour hemodialysis, performed in the dialysis center.
The study has some important limitations, including the fact that patients were not randomly assigned to the two dialysis strategies. With an average age of 45, the patients were younger than the general population of dialysis patients—few older patients were willing to switch to overnight hemodialysis. In addition, the followup
period was relatively short.
However, given the clear superiority of eight-hour dialysis, the researchers do not think the results would be changed with long-term observation. Dr. Ok adds, "We expect that these data would be convincing to the whole of society—including physicians, patients, health authorities, and social security institutions—for the
necessity of longer hemodialysis in order to improve high mortality and morbidity."
The study was supported by a grant from the European Nephrology Dialysis Institution. The study was conducted in Fresenius Medical Care (FMC) Turkey clinics. Ercan Ok, MD and Ali Basci, MD are members of the Scientific Advisory Board of FMC Turkey; Siddig Momin Adam, MD, is a nephrologist in a FMC Turkey
Clinic.
The study abstract, "Eight-Hour Nocturnal In-Center Hemodialysis Provides Survival Benefit Over Four-Hour Conventional Hemodialysis," (F-FC317) will be presented as part of a Free Communications session on the topic of “Outcomes Associated with Dialysis Mortality and Delivery” on Friday, November 7 at 5:24 p.m.
in Room 204 B/C of the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA.
ASN is a not-for-profit organization of 11,000 physicians and scientists dedicated to the study of nephrology and committed to providing a forum for the promulgation of information regarding the latest research and clinical findings on kidney disease. ASN Renal Week 2008, the largest nephrology meeting of its kind, will provide a forum for 11,000 nephrologists to discuss the latest findings in renal research and engage in educational sessions related to advances in the care of patients with kidney and related disorders. Renal Week 2008 will take place November 4 – November 9 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA.
Media Release – October 24, 2008
Kidney Health New Zealand supports Diabetes New Zealand's call for more investment in the management of Type 2 Diabetes
Kidney Health New Zealand welcomes the report on Type 2 Diabetes just released by Diabetes New Zealand which highlights the additional costs and suffering of the complications of diabetes. http://www.diabetes.org.nz/news/nz_news/2008_type_2_update_report
“Diabetes is the commonest cause of serious kidney failure”, says Professor Kelvin Lynn, Medical Director of Kidney Health New Zealand, “and responsible for 45 percent of new cases of kidney failure requiring dialysis treatment”.
At the end of 2006, there were 1,971 New Zealanders on dialysis and, for more than a third, diabetes was the primary cause. The majority of the patients with diabetic kidney disease were Maori and Pacific Islanders.
“Early recognition and treatment can either prevent kidney disease in diabetes or substantially slow its progress”, says Professor Lynn.
Diabetic kidney disease is expensive and costs at least $ 36 million annually. Its impact on sufferers and their families is substantial.
In spite of the best efforts of Kidney Health New Zealand, Diabetes New Zealand, health professionals and some enlightened health managers New Zealand still does not have a national system for early detection and treatment of diabetic kidney disease.
Early detection is straightforward and involves a simple blood and urine test. There is consensus on the best treatment for people found to have early evidence of kidney disease.
Kidney Health New Zealand supports Diabetes New Zealand’s call for “a major preventive strategy” to reduce the burden of kidney disease in our community
For more information please contact:
Professor Kelvin Lynn, Medical Director of Kidney Health New Zealand
Christchurch Hospital on 03 364 0640
Or
Mr David Henderson, Chairman of Kidney Health New Zealand
23 April 2008
New Zealanders who were given the intravenous medication, heparin, can be reassured contaminated products found overseas have not been supplied to the New Zealand market.
Dr Stewart Jessamine, Medsafe Interim Manager says: " Medsafe has worked closely with the FDA to manage the risk of contaminated heparin products. I can reassure patients given intravenous heparin for clotting disorders in New Zealand that we are confident that no contaminated products have been distributed in this country and that the benefits of using these products far outweigh the risk of contamination".
In February 2008, the United States FDA advised Medsafe that it was investigating the safety of heparin products. This followed a number of reports in the United States of serious allergic-type reactions and very low blood pressure occurring in patients who had been give a particular brand of heparin injection during kidney dialysis or heart bypass surgery. The manufacturer of this brand of heparin had voluntarily recalled batches of their product from the United States and other countries in January.
In response to the FDA notification Medsafe contacted the distributors of injectable heparin products in New Zealand and clinicians in dialysis units to determine whether the suspect brand of heparin was available in this country, and if there had been any reports of similar side effects to those seen in the United States. This investigation found the brand in question was not used in New Zealand and that there were no problems with allergic type reactions to heparin occurring in dialysis units.
The FDA later contacted Medsafe with information that it had identified a contaminant substance within the suspect brand of heparin and provided New Zealand with the specifics of two tests that could be used to detect this substance. Medsafe subsequently contacted a New Zealand based company involved in processing the raw ingredients (these are further purified by other manufacturers of heparin products) to ensure that it was using the FDA tests on the raw ingredients it received and the processed material it exported.The company reported that some of the raw ingredients it received from China were positive for the contaminant and Medsafe reported these findings on to the FDA.
So far, testing of the finished products being supplied to patients in New Zealand indicates that these products are free from contamination.
Dr Jessamine says the requirement, introduced by the FDA and other medicines regulators, for manufacturers of heparin products to conduct testing to detect this contaminant, gives Medsafe confidence that all future imports of heparin products will be free from this problem.
Medsafe also asked the National Pharmacovigilance Centre at the University of Otago to review New Zealand's adverse reactions database for reports of allergic-type reactions to heparin and to urgently report any cases it receives to Medsafe. Clinicians working for DHBs in the field of intensive care and renal dialysis were also contacted and advised of the FDA findings and encouraged to report any unusual adverse reactions to heparin to the national centre. No reports of the serious side effects seen in the United States with heparin were identified from either the national data base or the DHBs.
The current absence of significant reports of adverse reactions to heparin in New Zealand increases Medsafe's confidence that none of the contaminated heparin has been distributed in New Zealand. Medsafe will continue to work with the New Zealand importers and distributors of heparin to ensure that supplies remain safe and free from contaminants, Dr Jessamine says.
Rebecca Walsh
Media Advisor
Ministry of Health
DDI: 04 496 2115
Mobile: 021 277 5411
Stewart Jessamine
Interim Manager
Medsafe
Sector Accountability & Funding Directorate
Ministry of Health
DDI: 04 819 6874