NZHR’s Chief Executive Chris Higgins was the lead presenter at this event alongside HRC Chief Executive Sunny Collings, MBIE Chief Science Advisor Gary Evans, and the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor Juliet Gerrard.

Our presentation focussed on the role of health research in addressing New Zealand’s amenable and non-amenable premature mortality figures including inequitable outcomes for Māori; crossroads for health research represented by the health reforms, the Te Ara Paerangi Future Pathways RSI Green Paper, and the Health Research Strategy being at its half way point; and the need for increased investment to meet the growing expectations of the health research system, including to:

• Improve premature amenable and non-amenable premature mortality and morbidity outcomes
• Enable Te Whatu Ora, Te Aka Whai Ora and Manatū Hauora to undertake their research functions
• Enable improved health outcomes to be recognised and securely resourced as a key RSI priority
• Create a research culture embedded within health services delivery where clinicians routinely engage in health research as a key component of their practice
• Resource continued implementation of the health research strategy
• Support investigator led and other research where line of sight to impact is difficult to articulate
• Free up health and medical researchers to get on with what they’re good at rather than being tied up with repetitive grants funding applications

A copy of the slides can be seen here, and we’re happy to deliver the presentation to other forums if requested.