21 August 2003
MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Use
School of Population Health Researchers Win Major Grants
Two research teams at the University of Auckland School of Population Health are beneficiaries of major international
research grants announced today by the Health Research Council.
International Collaborative Research Grants worth more than NZ$8 million have been awarded to two project teams
undertaking research on health issues that affect people in the Pacific.
The Pacific Obesity Prevention in Communities (OPIC) project which will examine the
effectiveness of a range of interventions to prevent obesity among young people in Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand, and
Australia.
One of the lead researchers, Associate Professor Robert Scragg from the School of Population Health said obesity is a
rapidly escalating, worldwide epidemic.
“Obesity rates among the top 10 causes of the global burden of ill health. Community-based projects to prevent obesity
are urgently required, in all Pacific countries including New Zealand.
“The theory is that the best way of preventing obesity is to target programmes at young people – but there has not been
any rigorous research to test if this approach delivers significant benefits. We will be examining the effectiveness of
intervention strategies in schools, churches, villages and neighbourhoods in New Zealand and in the Pacific,” said
Associate Professor Scragg.
Teams from The University of Auckland School of Population Health, the Fiji School of Medicine and Deakin University in
Victoria, Australia will collaborate on the OPIC project.
The other project to gain funding is the “Traffic related injury in the Pacific project” (TRIP), led by Professor Rod
Jackson and Dr Sitaleki Finau, both from The University of Auckland School of Population Health. (Dr Filau is currently
on leave from the School and is based at the Fiji School of Medicine).
“The grant will enable us to examine traffic related injury in Fiji. Our findings will provide a solid scientific basis
for the development of future prevention policies and actions aimed at reducing the human cost of this serious health
issue,” said Professor Jackson. “Traffic related injuries are a huge problem in developing countries – but little
research has been done on the scale of the problem or the potential solutions in the Pacific.”
The International Collaborative Research Grants have been made possible through a partnership with the UK-based
international funding charity, the Wellcome Trust, the Health Research Council of New Zealand and the National Health
and Medical Research Council of Australia. The focus of the grants is to fund top quality, multi-disciplinary research
that will help to improve health among people in the Asia-Pacific region.
ENDS