A significant number of New Zealand teenagers are missing school and work because they can’t afford sanitary items. New research has shown that the situation is worse for Māori and Pasifika youth.

In 2012, when Cook Islander Cori Pokotea left college without a NCEA qualification, she never thought that one day she would be providing an essential service through a global pandemic. Having graduated with a New Zealand Certificate in Electrical Engineering (Level 3) from Whitireia at the Porirua campus, and then snapped up by electrical company, […]

The Health Research Council has awarded Dr Seini Taufa of Moana Research – an independent research organisation owned by six Pacific researchers – a $600k Pacific Project Grant to explore the response of the health system to the mental health needs of Pacific mothers and fathers. Dr Taufa, Principal Investigator and Research Lead for Moana […]

Young Māori and Pacific students are leaving the education system more qualified than older Māori and Pacific people, Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa said on Monday. Data from the 2018 Census indicates that, in both secondary and tertiary studies, younger Māori and Pacific peoples are achieving outcomes closer to the national average than their counterparts in […]

Associate Professor and senior scientist at Mercy Hospital for Women in Melbourne, Tu’uhevaha Kaitu’u-Lino and her core team of three practicing obstetricians have discovered a new novel protein measurable in the bloodstream that can help predict which women are at risk of stillbirth.Kaitu’u-Lino says the newly discovered protein, called SPINT 1, is needed in the body to help with a healthy placenta, which provides oxygen and nutrients to the baby and helps it to grow. Their research has found SPINT 1 is reduced in women who are carrying a small or poorly grown baby - indicating there could be a risk of stillbirth.“Small babies are at the greatest risk of being born still,” Kaitu’u-Lino says. “This research is so important because at the moment birth rates haven’t changed in the last decade. In Australia, one in every 130 pregnancies is lost to still birth. So, it means every single day five, six, seven families are facing this tragedy. I think the main reason we haven’t been able to change outcomes for these women is because our ability to understand the size of the baby is still quite poor, so in the clinic they might do an ultra sound or put a tape measure over Mum’s tummy, but we know those tools aren’t very accurate. So the work we are doing is trying to accurately tell doctors which babies are at risk and which babies are poorly grown.”She says the goal would be to study the molecules in proteins like SPINT1 to be able to produce new treatments to help babies grow better in the womb.“The ultimate goal of all our team is to make sure that every parent gets to take home a healthy baby, and I think if we can do this by reducing stillbirth, that would be a huge breakthrough for everyone.”

On June 24, Angie Enoka will become the first Samoan fa’afafine to graduate with a Doctor of Philosophy in Media Studies at Massey University. Ms Enoka hopes that her academic success will encourage other fa’afafine to look at education as a career option and hopes more Pacific people take on postgraduate studies. “When you grow […]

Auckland University of Technology (AUT) have released the second episode in their #AUTuni 2020 Pacific Language Video series. The video focuses on the importance of immunisation for our Pacific communities in Gagana Samoa, tying in with Samoan Language Week. Supported by research from the Pacific Islands Families Study and in partnership with Pacific Media Network, […]

A Pacific language video series by Auckland University of Technology will highlight the Pacific Islands Families (PIF) Study’s work in shaping resilient futures for Pacific communities in Aotearoa.  The PIF Study – now in its 20th year – is the largest longitudinal study of its kind. Based at the AUT South Campus in South Auckland, […]

For many of our people in the service and manufacturing industries, some of the key concerns for union organisers have been around their personal safety.For parents who need to work, schools are open, but many schools only have a handful of students.