WELLINGTON, June 28 (Xinhua) — The Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) has allocated funds to tackle a range of health issues, including a large trial to help New Zealanders quit vaping.
Also included under the government funding of 53.7 million NZ dollars (32.7 million U.S. dollars) is a project to improve the health and well-being outcomes of young Maori people released from prisons and youth justice residences.
The 44 projects involved provide opportunities to help advance the knowledge and drive meaningful changes in the country’s health system, HRC Chief Executive Sunny Collings said on Wednesday.
These project grants are an important way to help develop and sustain New Zealand’s health research workforce so they can continue to do the necessary work to improve health outcomes for the New Zealand people, Collings said.
A team from the University of Auckland will use their grant to carry out a large community-based clinical trial of two low-cost interventions to help New Zealanders stop vaping.
The trial will test whether cytisine, a medicine that partially blocks the effects of nicotine on the brain, is more effective than a tapered reduction in nicotine, said University of Auckland Associate Professor Natalie Walker. ■
Source: https://english.news.cn/20230628/2bc46292f9a24888a8bf12edeeb243de/c.html