Coleman Jonathan: Health (Protection) Amendment Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeColeman Jonathan: Health (Protection) Amendment Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 09 June 2016. Volume:714;Page:11896. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (Minister of Health): I move That the Health (Protection) Amendment Bill be now read a third time. I would like to acknowledge the officials and the members of the Health Committee for their work on the bill. There were 71 submissions and the committee heard 22 oral submissions. I know it was a most constructive process. I would like to thank other parties in Parliament for their support of the legislation.This bill amends the Health Act 1956. Back in October 2013 the Government decided to improve the range of measures in the Health Act in two specific areas: measures to protect the public from the risk of sexually transmitted diseases and the spread of some infections and then unrelated but obviously within the same bill in the case of people under the age of 18 measures to protect them from the harms associated with UV tanning. This bill is going to protect people from those preventable harms and it will do so through a range of measures proportional to the risks faced.New Zealand has high rates of sexually transmitted diseases and of course such diseases affect individuals families and communities. There are a variety of potential complications that stay with people for life including chronic pain infertility neonatal morbidity and genital-tract cancer. So these diseases are serious matters indeed. The bill adds new provisions for the surveillance and management of infectious diseases and those measures will improve the availability of information on certain conditions they will provide for more effective management of behaviours that put others at risk of infection and they will strengthen the legislative provisions for contact tracing.The bill establishes a clear legal basis for the principles applying to medical officers of health and the courts in the exercising of their disease-management powers. People exercising these powers will be required to take into account any known special circumstances or vulnerabilities of the individual concerned. These may be due to youth disability incapacity or a range of other circumstances at the discretion of the officer. The bill requires that measures are proportionate to the public health risk that is being managed so that you do not have a situation where a sledgehammer is being used to deal with an acorn. People get to manage or exercise discretion in the range of measures applied.The principles also encourage individuals to take responsibility for their own health and the health of their communities. Currently sexually transmitted infections (STIs) with the exception of AIDS are not notifiable by medical practitioners in New Zealand. The bill makes HIV infection gonorrhoea and syphilis notifiable on a non-identified basis along with AIDS. The notifying of information for STIs needs to be sufficient to enable different kinds of public health interventions while making sure they are complying with privacy safeguards. The bill requires notification of serious STIs while protecting the individual’s identity from being disclosed in the first instance. Reluctance to disclose information or to be diagnosed and treated could arise from fear of consequence as a result. However this information can be vital to help identify others who may be at risk and to prevent further spread of infection and disease. The bill says that information requested and provided under Part 3A will not be used or disclosed for any purpose other than the management of infectious disease.Contact tracing is a very valuable public health tool in preventing and managing infectious disease outbreaks such as gonorrhoea measles and meningococcal disease and it is a very important tool for public health officials. Subpart 5 of the bill extends contact tracing powers to contacts of people suspected of having an infectious disease allowing speedy follow-up and diagnosis and then of course treatment and containment where appropriate.On looking at this bill’s impact on existing venereal disease legislation the committee decided that it should be replaced by this bill. The current definition of venereal disease is not fit for modern conditions. For example it does not include HIV infection AIDS or chlamydia. Other outdated legislation the bill will repeal includes section 79 of the Health Act. This authorises a medical officer of health to detain and isolate people likely to cause the spread of an infectious disease. Part 3A effectively replaces section 79 with graduated powers of increasing robustness when an individual refuses to comply with management aimed at preventing other people from becoming infected.On to Part 2 of the bill which prohibits the commercial provision of artificial ultraviolet-light tanning services to people under the age of 18. A complete ban on the provision of artificial UV tanning services would prevent access to artificial tanning services by adults who are well informed and choose to take on that risk. The Health Committee reported back that it is satisfied the bill will protect the vulnerable under-18 age group while allowing adults to make informed decisions. That is comparable to other legislation such as the sale and supply of alcohol legislation which recognises that 18 is an age at which people are capable of making their own choices.Clauses 8 and 13 of the bill include several new provisions. These provide an infringement process to deal with breaches on the ban of providing artificial UV tanning services to people under the age of 18. This process will deal efficiently with offences and prevent expensive and time-consuming criminal prosecutions. Voluntary standards and guidance on operating sunbeds exist. However surveys have found there is variable compliance with those steps designed to minimise harm despite the considerable effort that has gone in to educating operators and to encourage compliance.I have therefore asked health officials to look into whether licensing of premises and operators and the introduction of mandatory standards is indeed appropriate. Because of the danger that sunbeds potentially pose it is important to have a licensing and training regime that ensures cowboy operators can no longer exist in this particular industry. I have asked officials to provide advice on a range of possible measures including licensing all sunbed premises and operators requiring that operators are trained to ensure the risks of sunbed use are minimised and insisting on clear information being provided to clients before they jump on a sunbed.This bill improves the protections we have for the health of New Zealanders. It is an important part of the legislative framework for managing and reducing health risks and I commend this bill to the House.