GOV0602
Level 4 | ASB House | 101 The Terrace | Wellington 6011
PO Box 2142 | Wellington 6140 | New Zealand
Ph +64 4 917 0060
F +64 4 473 0890
25 August 2014
Dear C Townsend
Re your Official Information Act request sent to the Ministry of Health (MOH) and then redirected
by the Ministry to the Health Promotion Agency (HPA) and received by HPA on 28 July 2014.
You asked for any documents specifically relating to possible harm inflicted by the sore throats
campaign to the reputation of Pacific Islanders as a responsible and healthy community.
The Winter 2014 Rheumatic Fever Awareness was aimed at Pacific people living in New Zealand
with a focus on parents and caregivers of 4 to19-year-olds in Auckland and Porirua.
Research was undertaken with members of the priority audience communities and relevant
frontline health providers to ensure the campaign approach and key messages were based on
what they saw as working for them and their communities.
The campaign was based around a real family from South Auckland who had already been
working with Pacific health providers to increase awareness of the issues around Rheumatic Fever
in Pacific communities. All stories told in the campaign are real, and delivered by those who
experienced them - there are no actors hired for any element of this campaign.
This approach allowed Pacific communities to determine the approach of the campaign, and at no
stage was there any suggestion or mention of any risk of any possible harm inflicted by the
campaign to the reputation of Pacific Islanders as a responsible and health community. In fact,
those involved in the campaign are portrayed as responsible in that they take the sore throats
seriously and act appropriately to protect the health of their family and their community.
Therefore no risk management documents pertaining to the reputation of Pacific people were
developed.
Therefore your request is declined under Section 18(e) of the Act that provides that a request may
be refused if: “the document alleged to contain the information requested does not exist or cannot
be found”;
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You have the right under section 28 (3) of the Official Information Act 1982 to request a review of
this decision by the Ombudsman.
Yours sincerely
Dr Andrew Hearn
General Manager Policy, Research and Advice
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