Doctors call on health professionals to state 'politically inconvenient' evidence

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-07-17 00:01

New Zealand

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In a NZ Medical Journal editorial, doctors say the safety of our health system is under threat. They say that for a long time the government has made reducing health inequities a priority, and there is a lot of research about interventions that can help, making them evidence-based rather than "ideological". They outline examples of interventions that were recently stopped, like smokefree legislation and lowering the bowel cancer screening age for Māori and Pacific people, arguing this is because science doesn't match current government ideology. The authors conclude that professionals should be able to speak honestly about risks to health, and have an obligation to do so.