Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor availability is changing. This piece of microlearning outlines the changes and gives links to useful resources. 

This piece of microlearning explores the importance of antimicrobial stewardship in Aotearoa New Zealand. 

World Antimicrobial Awareness Week is running from 18-24 November 2022. Aligning with the global action plan endorsed by WHO, the prime minister’s chief science advisor recommends collective and urgent action to mitigate the risk of antimicrobial resistance. Read this aHAH! moment to find out more. 

If you’re after a short piece of education, our bulletins highlight key issues that can promote team discussion and spark ideas for clinical quality improvement initiatives. Read this aHAH! moment to find out more. 

Hospitalisation and death due to asthma are unacceptably high for Māori and Pacific peoples – and little has changed over the past 18 years. The 2020 Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ (ARFNZ) asthma guidelines include recommendations to improve care in Māori and Pacific peoples.

EPiC is a free, data-driven tool that enables users to explore individual, practice and national prescribing behaviours. Insights from EPiC data can help users to consider their practice and inform targeted interventions or quality improvement initiatives.

Although triple therapy can reduce the risk of recurrent CVD events by at least 50 per cent over five years, the He Ako Hiringa EPiC dashboard indicates only half of people receive all three types of medicines following a CVD event. Read our latest bulletin for more on triple therapy and team-based initiatives that may help identify and prioritise patients for intensive management.

Managers within healthcare provider services are vital to leading activity that promotes achieving equity of outcomes. Genuine management guidance is crucial to reduce bias and improve the health experience for individuals, whānau, and our communities.

Nirmatrelvir with ritonavir (Paxlovid), a new oral antiviral medicine for adults with COVID-19, is now available for community use. In people at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19, treatment with Paxlovid has been shown to reduce the incidence of hospitalisation or death. However, for certain patients it will not be safe or appropriate to use Paxlovid.

The current primary care CVD management guidance strongly recommends aggressive risk management and lifestyle modification in patients with pre-existing CVD or an equivalent CVD risk. Opportunities to improve use of CVD medicines remain, particularly for Māori and Pacific peoples who lose 2.6–2.8 times more years to CVD events relative to non-Māori/non-Pacific peoples.