This weekend we announced the first part of a plan for a directional change of the health system and to ‘Make NZ Healthy”. No one will disagree that we have a crisis in our health system. Over the past three years we have been listening to kiwis, public health experts, doctors, and scientists. We have an epidemic of chronic illness impacting the lives of one million kiwis, overwhelming our hospitals, and putting unsustainable pressure on our economy. It’s time for new thinking with a bold shift from treating illness to preventing it. Other parties’ solution is to announce more spending on medicines and treatment, rather than properly investigate, research, and fund preventions of the causes and alternate healthy lifestyle solutions. New Zealand is currently spending $33 billion a year on health and nearly all of it is spent treating people after they are sick. New Zealand’s own research shows that 59% of health spending is spent on treating chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease, the very illnesses that can largely be prevented - only 1.75% is spent on preventing them in the first place. That’s not a health system. That is an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, and New Zealanders are paying for the ambulance. Spending more in a Health Budget on the ever-increasing market for drugs will never be enough. We need to solve the underlying reasons for the increasing number of chronic illnesses our strained system is now treating. New Zealand First will shift the focus of healthcare from treating illness to preventing it. By supporting healthier lifestyles, early intervention and stronger communities, we can keep New Zealanders healthier, reduce pressure on hospitals, and build a more sustainable health system. Having funding for medicines is an essential part of the health system but should not be the goal nor seen as the solution – it will only ever manage the decline of our country’s health. A small portion of what we currently spend treating disease could fund serious research into whether nutritional interventions can help prevent diseases. If it reduces diabetes, cardiovascular disease, mental illness, infection or hospital admissions by even a modest amount, the return will dwarf the investment. That is what prevention should mean. We spend billions treating sickness need to invest in finding out how much sickness we can prevent. New Zealand First will: 1. Put prevention back at the heart of healthcare. 2. Have a strong focus on metabolic health, the key driver of chronic illness. 3. Ensure that informed consent is a core part of quality healthcare. 4. Recognise that consumer choice is what leads to healthier decisions. 5. Promote nutrition from primary school to medical school. 6. Require a full independent review of our dietary guidelines. 7. Reduce administrative burden and restore professional autonomy in General Practice. 8. Support our GPs by bringing health coaches into primary care. 9. Find better ways to acknowledge our nurses. 10. Fund our New Zealand scientists to assess nutritional interventions for preventing and treating mental illness. 11. Remove Medsafe/Pharmac barriers to recognised safe nutrients. 12. Invest in hospital trials to assess the effectiveness of intravenous vitamin C pre- and post-surgery for preventing and treating infections. 13. Fund a review of vitamin D and determine optimal levels for maintaining health. 14. Support farmers and growers by investing in agricultural innovation that improves productivity, soil health, sustainability and resilience while researching practical alternatives to potentially harmful agricultural sprays. 15. Back our organic producers, cut unnecessary barriers, encourage investment and innovation, and grow new markets so New Zealand’s organic industry can create more jobs, strengthen regional communities, and deliver greater value from our land. We need a serious direction change of what our health system does and how it is funded.