Establishment:
The New Zealand Child and Youth Epidemiology Service (NZCYES) was established by the Paediatric Society of New Zealand in 2004, in response to the perceived need for a single national entity to select, collate and disseminate timely and accurate information on the health of children and young people in New Zealand. It has been hosted by the University of Otago since March 2009. The NZCYES is one of three research groups contributing to the Child Youth Policy Research Support Service (CYPRSS).
Child Youth Policy Research Support Service
The following paper outlines the development and first ten years of the NZCYES.
Craig E, Baker N, Baxter J, Jackson C, NZCYES Steering Committee. Creating a Child and Youth Health Monitoring Framework to Inform Health Sector Prioritisation and Planning: Reflections on Ten Years Experience in New Zealand. Child Indicators Research. 2016:1-21. DOI 10.1007/s12187-015-9357-8
What we do:
We bring an in-depth understanding and access to Health System data in New Zealand as it bears on the predictors and outcomes for Children and Youth, We have over 15 years proven that we are a trusted provider of high quality information to help evaluate progress and plan services for children. We can link health data-sets and are also developing skills in the use of the Stats NZ IDI which will enable even more in-depth understanding of predictors and outcomes in areas other than health (eg education, justice, employment and social welfare). Sitting in a University setting helps ensure access to expertise in a wider range of disciplines as well as independence as we take seriously the role of the university’s role as “critic and conscious of society”.
NZCYES is a service unit within the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health and is contracted to provide epidemiological information to the following governmental and non-governmental organisations. CYES consults with clinical, planning and administrative representatives throughout the country to ensure that the topics selected for routine reporting have broad relevance and represent contemporary issues.
Health New Zealand/Te Whatu Ora:
Health NZ/Te Whatu Ora is responsible for the planning and commissioning of health services as well as the functions of the 20 former district health boards.
NZCYES provides annual child and youth health reports to Health NZ’s 4 regions and districts (previously DHBs), using an established monitoring framework and following a 3 yearly sequence:
- Year 1: Determinants of child and youth health including household crowding, maternal smoking during and prior to pregnancy, domestic violence, and educational attainment
- Year 2: Child and youth health status with a focus on rates of acute hospitalisations according to defined socioeconomic and regional factors
- Year 3: Health of children and young people with chronic conditions and disabilities.
NZCYES Child And Youth reports by DHB or region
Paediatric Society of New Zealand:
The Paediatric Society of New Zealand | Te Kāhui Mātai Arotamariki o Aotearoa (PSNZ) is a not-for-profit charitable organisation which works to improve the health of children and youth throughout New Zealand. NZCYES is funded by Paediatric Society to produce a national report on the health of children and young people with a particular focus on equity.
NZCYES Child And Youth reports – National
New Zealand Child and Youth Clinical Networks (NZCYCN)
In addition to routine reporting, NZCYES also responds to formal requests for child health information from the Paediatric Society Child and Youth Clinical Networks. There are 10 Networks that focus on a range of speciality areas. All Networks aim to provide health professionals with resources to improve practice, and to promote the delivery of equitable child and youth health.
Cure Kids
Cure Kids was established in 1971 as the Child Health Research Foundation, and is the largest funder of child health research outside of government.
Since 2020, NZCYES has been commissioned by Cure Kids, in partnership with the Paediatric Society and the Paediatrics and Child Health Division (PCHD) of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP), to produce an annual State of Child Health report. The report highlights the incidence and patterns of respiratory and skin infections, dental disease, rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease and mental health of children and young people.
Cure Kids State of Child Health reports
JR MacKenzie Trust
Sir John McKenzie established the J R McKenzie Trust in 1940. The vision of the Trust is for “a socially just and inclusive Aotearoa New Zealand” The overall priority of the Trust is to address issues of inequity and a key population is children, youth and whanau NZCYES led initial development of the Children’s Social Health Monitor and produced an annual Child Poverty Monitor from 2013–2022 with the Office of Children’s Commissioner and J R McKenzie Trust.