Hague Kevin: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHague Kevin: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 25 June 2015. Volume:706;Page:4790. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]8.KEVIN HAGUE (Green) to the Minister of Health: What has he instructed the Ministry of Health to do to prepare New Zealand’s health services for the impacts of climate change?Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (Minister of Health): As with any public health issue the ministry is well aware of my expectation that it understands the risks and prepares to respond to any emerging health issues. In respect of climate change the Ministry of Health is taking a wide range of preparatory steps from preparing for extreme weather events to reviewing water safety plans and helping to detect exotic mosquitos.Kevin Hague: Can the Minister then explain why an Official Information Act request to the ministry revealed no correspondence at all between the Minister and the ministry concerning climate change?Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: Well the point is that the ministry is so well informed having read the 2013 Gluckman report on New Zealand’s changing climate and oceans which noted the possibility of increases in the likelihood of mosquito-borne vectors establishing in New Zealand and increases in the number and severity of extreme weather events that it has taken the initiative and just got on and done it itself.Kevin Hague: Which of the predicted serious health effects on New Zealanders caused by climate change is he most concerned about: water-borne diseases such as giardia and salmonella; tropical diseases such as malaria or dengue fever; or something else? What specific actions has he taken as Minister to avoid those?Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: I think the things we should be concerned about are things like increasing incidence of diseases like salmonellosis and cryptosporidiosis which in warmer climates do start to increase. But of course the ministry has the expertise to gear up for that. It is doing that. It has also developed a series of environmental health indicators and it is undertaking surveillance to detect and gather evidence on the potential effects. So look we have got a lot of expertise in there. We have got 1150 people and some of them are working on these things that you are very very concerned about.Kevin Hague: Does the Minister agree with Associate Minister of Health Peter Dunne who said in a February 2015 speech that an outbreak of dengue fever in New Zealand brought about by the effects of climate change could conservatively cost $250 million and cause the deaths of one in 100000 people exposed to the disease?Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: I have not seen those figures but I am sure Mr Dunne was basing them on reputable research. As I said in my substantive answer and subsequent supplementary answer the ministry has been working on mitigating the increased likelihood of mosquito-borne diseases of which dengue fever is one.Kevin Hague: In the face of these serious predicted health consequences of climate change what representation specifically has he made to his Cabinet colleagues to call for at least a 40 percent reduction on 1990 emissions by 2030 as called for for example by the New Zealand College of Public Health Medicine?Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: I have been so busy dealing with the Southern District Health Board increasing the number of elective surgeries—Hon Annette King: Oh he had nothing to do with that.Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: —increasing the number of appointments reading these letters that Mrs King is sending me and preparing for the launch of the under-13s free GP visits on 1 July that actually I have not got around to doing that sorry.