[pima.nius] PR: $1.25 million boost for women with breast cancer

  http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE0904/S00006.htm

$1.25 million boost for women with breast cancer Thursday, 2 April 2009, 12:46 pm Press Release: NZ Breast Cancer Foundation

1st April 2009 For immediate release

$1.25 million boost in support for women with breast cancer

The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation is embarking on an ambitious million dollar move to improve the wellbeing of women with breast cancer.

The Foundation is committing $1.25 million over the next year to fund community-based support programmes and special projects designed to help women deal with the physical and psychological effects of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.

"The effects of a breast cancer diagnosis remain long after treatment ends. Research, awareness, early detection and treatment are all important, but women have been asking for services that help them to resume a normal life after treatment," said executive trustee Heather Shotter.

With the Foundation's support this year, Pink Pilates – a personalised health programme designed to help women regain physical strength, rebuild self esteem and improve body confidence – has been rolled out from its Auckland base to an additional 11 centres.

The services of Sweet Louise, which provides support for women with secondary breast cancer, are also being expanded nationally thanks to a funding commitment of over $500,000 from The Foundation over the next three years. The Foundation will be supporting Auckland-based Sweet Louise expand its programme of counselling, physical wellbeing and everyday round-the-home help to further centres around the country.

Ms Shotter says The Foundation wants to ensure these vital services reach as many women as possible.

"Regardless of where they live, New Zealand women should be able to access all the support they need to get through this difficult time. As a long standing national organisation, we are in a position to support smaller organisations in expanding their services.

"We all want the same thing – to improve outcomes for New Zealand women with breast cancer. Now, more than ever, we need to be working together to improve results for New Zealand women."

In addition to the focus on wellbeing, the ambitious new plan released today outlines an expansion of The Foundation's other services, such as research & professional development for the medical community.

Another initiative – funded by The Foundation's research and medical grant programme is The Breast Cancer Patient Registers – which bring together public and private health records of women with breast cancer.

This enables health researchers to identify better ways to improve delivery of care for breast cancer patients.

The Auckland and Waikato registers have already delivered valuable insights to researchers, and The Foundation is looking to extend the programme nationally, with discussions currently taking place with researchers in other major New Zealand centres.

Meanwhile, The Foundation's cornerstone education and awareness programme, which offers a nationwide community education road show as well as on-request seminars, will also take a fresh approach to communicating the importance of breast health to New Zealand women.

A specific focus will be on obtaining better engagement with hard-to-reach audiences, including Maori and Pacific groups.

Ms Shotter says that although these groups are currently the target of many public health campaigns, these messages are not getting through.

"It is distressing to know that while Maori and Pacific groups are the most likely to die from breast cancer, we are still not seeing enough of these women presenting themselves for mammograms that could save their lives.

"We are determined to work with diverse health groups to develop programmes and resources that are effective in encouraging at-risk groups to be proactive with their breast health", she says.

ends

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[pima.nius] PR: NZ assisting with managing Tokelau influenza

  http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE0903/S00126.htm

NZ assisting with managing Tokelau influenza Monday, 30 March 2009, 4:34 pm Press Release: Ministry of Health

Media release

30 March 2009

New Zealand assisting with managing Tokelau influenza outbreak

New Zealand health authorities are working closely with their counterparts in Tokelau to help manage an influenza outbreak affecting more than one in every ten people on the three remote atolls of Tokelau.

The New Zealand territory with only slightly more than 1500 residents spread over three atolls more than 500 km north of Apia has around 150 people reported ill with influenza.

Health services on each atoll have acted swiftly to limit the spread of the disease. The school on Atafu, the northern-most atoll, has been closed, public gatherings halted, sick people advised to stay home and hand washing messages reinforced.

Wellington public health services and Capital and Coast Health have been working with the NZ Ministry of Health and WHO providing advice and additional health supplies such as vaccines, which along with antiviral supplies will be shipped to Tokelau on the overnight boat trip from Samoa. The Wellington-based Office of the Administrator of Tokelau is also actively involved with coordination and support.

Nursing support from Wellington has been offered to Tokelau and if required they would need to fly to Apia in time to catch the fortnightly boat from Apia to Tokelau as the atolls have no air service.

Ministry of Health officials are closely monitoring the situation and working with the Minister of and Director for Health for Tokelau – both of whom are based in Samoa.

BACKGROUND
The first case was reported on Tokelau on 16 March.
The number of people reported sick with influenza type symptoms on Sunday 29 March was 147.
Confirmation of the type of influenza is expected to take some time for swabs to be sent to New Zealand for testing.

ENDS

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[pima.nius] NZH: Woman who had baby on Auckland flight 'ruins Samoa's good name'

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Woman who had baby on Auckland flight 'ruins Samoa's good name'

10:13AM Wednesday Mar 25, 2009
by Cherelle Jackson

Photo / Supplied

Related links:

• Police: Woman who gave birth on plane likely to be charged
• Queries over pregnancy, flight and birth
• Woman has baby on plane - leaves it behind

When the incident of the Samoan mother on the Pacific Blue flight hit the shores of the fairly peaceful Samoa, what swept through the nation was a mixture of shock, sheer curiosity and embarrassment.

News people in Samoa called the incident an 'international embarrassment,' saying the incident had ruined the good name of Samoa.

The editor of the Samoa Observer, Keni Ramese-Lesa, wrote a day after the incident: "This international embarrassment would never have happened if the systems we have in place were working. For instance, aren't people like this woman required to undergo a full medical check-up before being given the okay to be part of such schemes?"

Discussion forums on the Newsline Samoa newspaper have been overwhelmed by people outraged at the incident, because it gives Samoa a bad name.

"How embarrassing!!! How could she? What was she thinking? She thought she would get away with it?" Atinae wrote on Samoalivenews.com.

Coffee shops and the women's committee buzzed with exaggerated stories of the incident, trying to figure out where the woman comes from, her family and any other gossip worthy details.

The CEO of the Ministry of Health, Tupuimatagi Palanitina Toelupe, has already reaffirmed that travelling at seven months term is not a good idea.

Those who processed the woman's papers are pointing fingers, and some just not talking, as they try to figure out exactly who or where they went wrong.

The prime minister's department has yet to issue a statement.

The New Zealand Immigration office in Samoa has remained behind closed doors.

What is perhaps interesting about all of this is that the locals are not shocked the woman left her baby in a rubbish bin, but rather that she did it outside of Samoa, and on a plane.

A comment by a friend put this into perspective.

The friend, a 24-year-old waitress, says: "I can't believe she had the guts to do it outside of Samoa, really."

Sadly, the incident is one that is repeated often in Samoa.

In my career as a news reporter I have reported on numerous cases of newborn babies being abandoned at birth.

The common theme amongst the cases are the disregard for whether the baby lived or not.

Among the cases are two of newborns in plastic bags, one newborn wrapped in a blanket in the bush and another thrown in a river and left for dead.

In most of the cases the babies end up dying before they were found.

So when the Samoan woman left her baby aboard the rubbish bin of the Pacific Blue flight and survived, I personally breathed easy.

The common theme amongst those who have freely expressed opinions in Samoa about this case is finding someone to blame and berating the woman for her 'stupidity' and 'ignorance.'

What could have been a joyful incident on board the Pacific Blue flight from Samoa turned into a very sad incident.

This incident occurs often enough to warrant a shift in the mind frame of Samoan society.

I am neither an anthropologist nor a sociologist, but I know the pressures that face the Samoan woman today.

For an advanced society, bearing a fatherless child is still viewed as a 'shame' and the expectations imposed on a Samoan tamaitai (woman) to adhere to matrimony before bearing a child is not only unfair but unrealistic.

So in the process of trying to defend the pride of their families, those who do abandon their babies do the opposite by 'shaming' their families with such blatant disregard for human life.

The actions of this one Samoa woman suggest that something is certainly amiss in Paradise.

Copyright ©2009, APN Holdings NZ Limited

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[pima.nius] NZH: David Neilson: Why Banimarama wants to solve things his way

World RSS Email Print

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David Neilson: Why Banimarama wants to solve things his way

4:00AM Monday Mar 30, 2009

Fiji coups

• Pro-democracy head says rocks thrown at house
• US puts boot into Bainimarama

Related links:

• Pro-democracy head says rocks thrown at house

The People's Charter is central to understanding the Fiji situation and its future under Commodore Frank Bainimarama. First World Governments try to push this regime back to the ballot box, but the interim head of state is intent on following through on the charter's goals, however long that may take.

If not actually a mandate from the people, the People's Charter is nonetheless a clear statement of Bainimarama's goals, and implicitly offers motivation and justification for his takeover which has suspended civilian government in Fiji for more than two years.

Contrary to widespread thinking and unlike previous coups, the December 2006 Bainimarama-led takeover was not to protect the indigenous heritage from Indo-Fijian-supported, Labour Party-led Governments.

It was motivated by the perceived corruption of Laisenia Qarase's SDL party Government, and against its institutional racism towards Indo-Fijians. (High numbers of Indo-Fijians emigrated from Fiji in the Qarase years, 2002-2006). It was a stand taken by the indigenous military leadership against the indigenous people's Government and for the Indo-Fijian minority.

The charter aims to weed out corruption and have a genuine democracy that can overcome the racism embedded in the state structure and the electoral system in particular. The existing electoral system, promulgated under the authority of Sitiveni Rabuka's unconstitutional military regime during the'90s, guarantees 50 per cent of seats to indigenous voters.

Although having progressive features, this electoral system has failed to overcome the ethnic nature of politics in Fiji. There's also a strong prima facie case, according to the Commission of Inquiry into the 2006 Fiji General Election, to indicate that this election was systematically corrupt and probably denied for the third time in Fiji's recent history the election of a Labour Party-led Government.

The People's Charter expresses strong commitment to a political process that can deliver a genuine democracy transcending ethnic divisions with free and fair elections and a commitment to the principle of universal and equal franchise. The Administration is working to implement 32 recommendations by the commission.

A national census has enabled the Electoral Commission to redraw electoral boundaries, but the nation's electoral roll is still full of errors such as misspelling and geographical misplacement of Indo-Fijian citizens - many of whom were turned away from the ballot boxes in 2006. Many other recommendations are also being addressed.

The report stopped short of recommending change to the electoral system itself, partly because it would mean difficult constitutional change. More significantly, the People's Charter's commitment to universal and equal franchise implies such a commitment.
Changes to the constitutionally embedded electoral system, originally forged by an unconstitutional Government, are now being looked at by the interim regime whose constitutionality is also contested. In a procedural sense, constitutional change is problematic in the present context because it requires Parliament to be sitting, and it requires a 66 per cent parliamentary mandate.

But substantive problems arise because the achievement of a genuine democracy is not simply given by universal franchise.

The developed world often thinks democracy is a straightforward gift to developing nations and that its repeated failure has nothing to do with the complexities of achieving democracy. Despite obvious and less obvious anomalies, election observers from the UN and the developed world are keen to rubber-stamp just about any election.

First World institutions almost always oppose military takeovers of civilian Governments, while playing down underlying flaws in the political process that help explain such interventions, and prescribe a fast path to the ballot box as a remedy.

Also, the First World tends not to recognise that problems often stem from the deep divisions left by their colonial regimes.

Bainimarama is caught in a bind. Ultimately, he would like to be judged by history as a hero of the people's democracy that overcame corruption and racism.

But replacing the present communal block voting system with equal universal franchise will, as an effect of the reduced Indo-Fijian component of Fiji's population, favour the SDL and the return of Qarase.

And there are very personal grievances underpinning Bainimarama's opposition to the SDL. It amalgamated with the extremist party linked with George Speight's 2000 attempted takeover, whose men killed some of the commodore's men.

He feels a strong personal need to right the wrongs created by the SDL Government and ensure Qarase's SDL party never rules again.

* Dr David Neilson is a senior lecturer in the Department of Societies and Cultures at Waikato University.

Copyright ©2009, APN Holdings NZ Limited

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[pima.nius] PR: Minister welcomes decision on MCK Metals

Minister welcomes decision on MCK Metals Thursday, 2 April 2009, 10:45 am Press Release: New Zealand Government

Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman
Minister of Immigration

2 APRIL 2009
Media Release

Minister welcomes decision on MCK Metals

Minister of Immigration, Dr Jonathan Coleman has welcomed Immigration New Zealand's decision to cancel the Variation of Conditions issued to six foreign workers at Taranaki firm, MCK Metals Pacific Ltd.

"Last week, I asked Immigration New Zealand to investigate the Variation of Conditions granted to foreign workers at MCK Metals Pacific Ltd," said Immigration Minister, Dr Jonathan Coleman.

"Immigration New Zealand has informed me that, had they known that MCK Metals Pacific Ltd was considering redundancies when the application was made, the Variation of Conditions would have been declined.

Immigration New Zealand will therefore cancel the Variation of Conditions meaning that the six foreign workers will only be able to work in accordance with the original conditions.

I would like to think that this decision sends a strong message to all employers. At a time of growing unemployment, immigration and labour authorities must be vigilant in ensuring that temporary work permits are only issued to address genuine skills shortages.

I accept that there are still situations where there is a shortage of certain skills and employers find themselves in a position where they must recruit from offshore. Those employers' needs will continue to be met."

Immigration New Zealand will be issuing short-term temporary work permits where there are no suitable New Zealanders who are available or can be readily trained.

"It is also important to realise that the rights of foreign workers are protected," said Dr Jonathan Coleman.

ENDS

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[pima.nius] NZH: Tears of joy after Sharma found not guilty of toddler's murder

National RSS Email Print

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Tears of joy after Sharma found not guilty of toddler's murder

7:47PM Wednesday Apr 01, 2009

Abhinesh Sharma is embraced by supporters after the verdict. Photo / Dean Purcell

Related links:

• Murder accused says he 'was in toilet' as nephew fatally hurt

Tears of joy ran down the face of a Fiji-born plumber today as he was acquitted of the murder and manslaughter of his 16-month old nephew.

Abhinesh Sharma, 37, was found not guilty of both charges by a jury in the High Court at Auckland to murdering Sachin Dhani.

Sharma embraced his family outside court today at the end of his ordeal.

"I'm just thanking almighty God that justice has prevailed," he told NZPA.

"I said from the start I was innocent and didn't do anything. My solicitors have done a great job, and I was pretty confident all the way through."

He said he'd had a sleepless night last night, knowing that he was going to find out his fate today.

But he emphasised it had been a distressing time for both families, as they were very close before the incident.

"Sachin was my lucky charm. I really loved that boy. He was like a son to me," Sharma said.

Sharma's family were planning a Hindu prayer celebration tonight.

His wife, who has name suppression, said she still felt very sorry for her sister's loss.

"My sympathy is with her. She is my second eldest sister and I love her very much," she said.

The Sharma family life has been torn apart over the past two years, with their five-year-old twins taken away by Child, Youth and Family to live with their mother-in-law, with access allowed only on Sundays.

"It's been like a bad dream. It will take a long time to get back to normal, and we still have to wait for the release of our children," Sharma's wife said.

"I know it's been hard for my sister, but I'm always there for her, and I hope that one day things could be back to how they used to be," Sharma's wife said.

His uncle, Bobguru Prasad, said Sharma came to New Zealand to make a better life for himself and his family.

"This has been very difficult for the family to deal with. His wife and Mrs Dhani, Sachin's mother, have not been in touch for a very long time and this has torn the family apart.

"Abhinesh has always maintained his innocence right from day one."

Speaking to NZPA outside court, Sharma's lawyer Maria Pecotic said she was thrilled with the result.

"This has been so hard for both families and it's split them apart, but my view is that justice has certainly been done.

Sachin died of head injuries at Auckland's Starship Hospital on June 21, 2007. He was found badly injured when police stopped a car being driven erratically on June 19.

The prosecution claimed the child was shaken violently and slammed against a wall.

Sharma's lawyers, Geoff Wells and Ms Pecotic, told the court Sachin's death was accidental, and Sharma did nothing to cause it.

After five hours of deliberation, the jury returned not guilty verdicts and Sharma walked free.

- NZPA

Copyright ©2009, APN Holdings NZ Limited

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[pima.nius] Star TV in Samoa

Cook Islands Herald>>>>>

Pitt launches new free to air Television in Samoa

One month to the day after setting up Fetu FM radio station George Pitt has launched a new television free to air service called Star TV in Samoa on Monday 9th March.
In May 2008 Pitt became a major shareholder in the privatisation of the Samoa's state owned broadcasting service. In September he set up Mareva Media with long time media friend Lance Polu to expand into other media opportunities.
"We have set up Star Network which means Samoa Television And Radio." said Pitt " We had to build the whole set up from scratch which has been a huge but gratifying challenge"
"Establishing a transmission infrastructure in a so much bigger place like Samoa is an achievement in it's self" In a building leased for the next ten years the radio and television studios and administration has been seyt up along with Pitt's apartment. "Nothing new, I'm living on the job, at the moment, it's 24/7/365."
Nearly all the staff are young but enthusiastic learning the industry, I'm having to relearn everything, there's no Jeannie here. "he said.
"The local print media have been very supportive in their newspaper articles"
Despite there already being two commercial free to air television stations in Samoa Pitt said the 185,000 population offers a very competitive environment, no one is complaining there's a third channel.
"The commercial base here will sustain our service."
Star Network is offering viewing content the others don't have. They tend to copy or duplicate each other in some of their programming. We are more than an alternative especially for the advertisers. We are the only 24 hour commercial TV station in Samoa.
At the moment we have 80% coverage of the country but will expand that to 90% when I can get our transmission engineer from New Zealand back.
"There are a lot of other commercial opportunities in Samoa's robust economy," concluded Pitt, "TV and radio will be the means to the end to exploit those opportunities."

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