Federation states its support for the World Health Organisation’s Declaration of Astana

The newly elected Board of the Federation of Primary Health Aotearoa New Zealand (the Federation) met for its first meeting this week and immediately stated its support for the Declaration of Astana issued at the World Health Organisation’s Global Conference on Primary Health Care in October 2018.

Hon. Steve Chadwick, whose appointment as independent Chair of the Federation was ratified at the start of the meeting, stated “The Board unanimously agreed with the full Astana Declaration which speaks directly to the purposes of the Federation. It’s really hard to argue with the general principle of high quality and sustainable primary health care being available and accessible to all. We must now ensure that the principles of the Declaration are underpinned by the actions of our Government and the Ministry of Health.”

The Board received a formal handover from the Federation’s Establishment Board which had been in place since its first meeting in April 2018. The Board then made significant immediate progress which included:

• Ratifying the appointment of Hon. Steve Chadwick as Chair of the Board
• Agreeing shortlisting arrangements for the position of Chief Executive Officer
• Ratifying the co-option of Norma Lane and Arish Naresh onto the Board
• Agreeing arrangements for the selection of the Board’s Consumer representative(s)
• Ratifying a number of recommendations from the Establishment Board including minor revisions to the Constitution, the Board’s Terms of Reference, a Board Charter and a proposed Governance Handbook
• Commencing discussions with regards strategic planning and immediate priorities on behalf of members

Highlighting the Federation’s early input into New Zealand’s future health strategy, Hon. Steve Chadwick continued on to say “There was an incredible level of collaboration, common purpose and agreement around the table. I am delighted we were able to move so quickly through our initial agenda with the full support of the Board and, more importantly, to be able to start to apply our influence into the Government’s Health and Disability System Review through our engagement with its Chair, Heather Simpson, to whom we are grateful for being able to attend such a large part of our meeting.”