A Letter to the Minister of Health.
To the Minister of Health of New Zealand,
It is critical to retain access to free RAT tests and masks after the end of February 2024, and to ensure both Covid vaccine and antiviral access remains funded, as well as prompt, free and widely/easily available.
There are many reasons that removing access to tools that are vital in an ongoing pandemic is inequitable and goes against the Ministry of Health’s Strategic Framework for Managing Covid-19 - achieving “equity in access” is stated as being fundamental.
A few below:
By removing access to RAT tests, people can’t report a positive result, and all of a sudden case numbers don’t look so drastic.
This undermines both the right to health and the right for the public to be informed during an ongoing pandemic that is unequivocally, undeniably impacting long-term health.
Covid impacts are neurological, cardiovascular, immunological, systemic. Covid can affect every organ.
The prevalence of Long Covid has been called a “mass disabling event”.
A key finding of the 2023 Ngā Kawekawe o Mate Korona | Impacts of COVID-19 in Aotearoa report is the impact of ongoing symptoms of Covid-19, which affect around 22% of people who have had the illness. Long Covid has resulted in a newly disabled population of people who need ongoing support.
Research into reinfection is starting to show that with the chance of serious issues such as diabetes, mental health issues, and chronic fatigue goes up, alongside increased risk of damage to organs.
This is reiterated in the 2023 Aotearoa New Zealand Strategic Framework for Managing COVID-19. This framework outlines the response to the ongoing Covid pandemic. It notes: 'All infections carry a risk of illness, hospitalisation, death and disability from Long Covid ... The long-term impacts of COVID-19 are also becoming clearer – Long Covid, delayed and deferred health care, workforce impacts and changes in societal trust and behaviours.'
There are limited support pathways for Long Covid in NZ - including financial support.
There is very limited specialist resource to address the myriad impacts that Covid has - including the recent advice by scientists at Oxford University that heart disease is the leading cause of excess deaths in the UK. Covid undeniably impacts the heart.
The British Heart Foundation says:
“No doubt, the reasons for continuingly high numbers of excess deaths related to CVD in England are complicated.
However, along with deaths caused by Covid-19 among people with heart and circulatory diseases, we think the following factors have played a role:
The longer-term impact of Covid-19 infection on the heart and circulatory system.
Extreme and continued disruption to GP and heart care services.”
People should be able to take measures to protect themselves and others by being able to confirm a positive result.
People should be able to point their GP to that result as inevitable health impacts come into play.
People should not have to pay for info in an ongoing pandemic - and cost of living crisis.
By creating blind spots about case numbers - (especially given wastewater reporting isn’t widely understood or communicated well either by public health officials or by media) removal of access to RAT tests also ensures that access to case information is limited to those with privilege.
NZ was also recently at a whopping 60% reinfection rate, which has strong implications for long-term health.
Stopping access to RAT tests stops access to reinfection data, alongside people’s ability to confirm they have Covid/are infectious.
Surely we need to monitor and act on this data? We cannot conclusively say that reinfections are harmless.
Why act against our Covid framework?
Why against the principles of “public” health?
Why go against advice provided by WHO?
Access to vaccines should be free and timed to ensure prompt access to updated versions.
Antivirals should be accessible (and stocked).
RAT tests and masks should be free.
Clean air should be pursued, instead of ignored.
We don’t have a health system that functions well now, let alone in an environment of continuous, non-seasonal Covid waves.
We have to protect everyone who can be affected by Covid (which is everyone) by ensuring all the tools we have are widely available.
It is inequitable that vulnerable community members are unable to test.
It inequitable to charge for tests in a pandemic that starkly impacts health and a cost of living crisis that impacts ability to pay for tests.
It is inequitable to provide less information in an ongoing pandemic.
Decisions that are grounded in political will, as opposed to public health do not show leadership, but demonstrate the opposite.
Thank you.