6 November 2023
Chris McCashin
[FYI request #23748 email]
Tēnā koe Chris,
Your request for Official information, reference: HNZ00030914
Thank you for your email on 3 October 2023, asking for the following under the Official Information
Act 1982 (the Act):
“If this is the case then how are you completing the background rates that you have come
up with?
A follow up
- Please provide all of the datasets used, inputs, variables formulas used to obtain the
background rates used in the Medsafe reports for all of the safety signals identified in the
Medsafe Reports
Unless we know that accurate baseline data is being used and datasets are compared
accurately then you really aren’t able to give us proper information. For example, even if
there were 100 extra cases of Myocarditis (which I doubt because before the vaccine
nobody had it) diagnosed by primary health providers there has still been a 7000% increase
from the vaccine and we are just getting fudged statistics to try and hide the true damage.
So I can’t quite work out if you are in cover up mode or we need to call out the competence
of the agency and ability to do the job properly.”
The method used to estimate the average background rates for each of the medical conditions is
as follows:
For the years 2016-2019, all hospitalisation events in the National Minimum Data Set that had a
diagnosis code (ICD-10 codes) that matched the definitions of each medical condition were
counted and then divided by the number of years to get an average number of hospitalisations in a
year in that time period.
The raw data referred to is withheld in full under section 9(2)(a) of the Act, to protect the privacy of
natural persons. The need to protect the privacy of individuals is not outweighed by the public
interest in the release of this information.
More information around hospitalisation events can be found www.health.govt.nz/nz-health-
statistics/health-statistics-and-data-sets/hospital-event-data-and-stats.
How to get in touch
If you have any questions, you can contact us at [email address].
If you are not happy with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the
Ombudsman. Information about how to do this is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
by phoning 0800 802 602.
As this information may be of interest to other members of the public, Te Whatu Ora may
proactively release a copy of this response on our website. Al requester data, including your name
and contact details, wil be removed prior to release.
Nāku iti noa, nā
Rachel Mackay
Acting Director, Prevention
National Public Health Service
Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand
TeWhatuOra.govt.nz
PO Box 793, Wellington 6140
New Zealand
