133 Molesworth Street
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
T+64 4 496 2000
30 August 2021
Mark Sanders
By email: [FYI request #16309 email]
Ref:
H202110033
Tēnā koe Mark
Response to your request for official information Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) to the Ministry of
Health (the Ministry) on 5 August 2021 for:
“In the year ending June 30, 99 patients on medevac flights had been accepted for
treatment in New Zealand, can you please break down those numbers and provide figures
for individual citizenship numbers, ie: countries they are from and claim citizenship to.”
Passport information is collected by the Ministry as part of the application for emergency
medical evacuation. However, this information is not a relevant factor when determining whether
someone qualifies for emergency medical evacuation to New Zealand. As such, citizenship
information for each applicant is not recorded in a centralised form.
In the year ending 30 June 2021, the Ministry received emergency medical evacuation
applications for 208 individuals. Many of these applications were cancelled or would not have
met the requirements necessary to qualify for emergency medical evacuation. To identify the
citizenship of the individuals whose applications were successful and who were subsequently
evacuated to New Zealand would require that a staff member analyse each application, assess
whether it was successful, and then extract and compile relevant citizenship information.
I have considered whether charging or extending the timeframe to compile the information could
enable the Ministry to respond. However, as each application would have to be individually
reviewed, I do not believe it is in the public interest to do so. Therefore, your request is refused
under section 18(f) of the Act as the information you have requested cannot be made available
without substantial collation.
It is possible that Immigration New Zealand may hold some relevant information. You are
welcome to contact them at
www.mbie.govt.nz/about/open-government-and-official-
information/online-form/. I trust this information fulfils your request. Under section 28(3) of the Act you have the right to
ask the Ombudsman to review any decisions made under this request. The Ombudsman may
be contacted by email at:
[email address] or by calling 0800 802 602.
Please note that this response, with your personal details removed, may be published on the
Ministry website at:
www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/information-releases/responses-official-
information-act-requests. Nāku noa, nā
Chris Scahill
Group Manager, COVID-19 Response
COVID-19 Health System Response
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