November 29, 2023

New Zealand backtracks on smoking ban

26 minutes

When former Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern passed legislation to reduce access to tobacco products, the policy was held up as an international example. So there was shock among health experts in New Zealand and across the world this week when the newly sworn in Government announced they would be scrapping the plans. Claudia Hammond asks Janet Hoek, Professor of Public Health at the University of Otago what the international impact will be.

She hears from the people who hear music when nothing is playing. Professor of cognitive neurology at Newcastle University, Tim Griffiths, describes what might be happening in the brain to cause these musical hallucinations.

Claudia is also joined by public health expert Dr Tabitha Mwangi to discuss new research from Tanzania where health experts are collaborating with religious leaders to provide family planning services. They look ahead to COP28 in the United Arab Emirates where the climate conference will hold its first ever ‘Health Day’. And ask whether we should be concerned about the surge of childhood pneumonia in China?

Image Credit: Peter Dazeley

Presenter: Claudia Hammond

Producer: Clare Salisbury

Assistant Producer: Jonathan Blackwell

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