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All children in Aotearoa should enjoy the same high standard of health. Inequitable health outcomes experienced by taitamariki Māori and by Pacific children have persisted for many years. Many hospitalisations of children and young people are potentially avoidable and many deaths are preventable.

One of the keys to making a difference is being able to describe the health issues confronting this important sector of our population. In addition, Health Service Providers and the Ministry of Health need evidence of effective interventions at the population level that can address particular child and youth health issues.

The following national research units in the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Dunedin School of Medicine have formed a consortium, the Child and Youth Policy Research Support Service:

Collectively they have the capacity to both describe and monitor the health of children and young people in New Zealand. Their aim is to:

Provide high quality epidemiological research to support good decision making and policy for children and young people in New Zealand.

This will be by:

  • Strengthening their work so that the child and youth health information they produce can inform policy and funding allocation decisions.
  • Refining data collection, analysis and reporting processes and the greater sharing of innovative solutions across the units.
  • Developing and retaining a skilled workforce with expertise in paediatric and perinatal epidemiology.
  • Understanding the strengths and limitations of New Zealand’s national data collections.
  • Understanding the principles of evidence-based medicine in relation to population level interventions.
  • Creating a centre of excellence in population child and youth health to attract post graduate students and visiting scholars.
  • Creating partnerships with a range of Government and non-Government agencies working in the health sector so that innovative policy solutions can be developed and disseminated widely.

Contact CYPRSS

Child and Youth Policy Research Support Service
Department of Women's and Children's Health
Dunedin School of Medicine
PO Box 56
Dunedin 9054
New Zealand

Physical address: 55 Hanover Street, Dunedin 9016

Tel +64 3 479 4523

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