Healthy Homes Tai Tokerau install free insulation to 3000 homes

The Devine family of Motatau is one of thousands of families in Northland now breathing easier because their home is warmer.
The milestone of installing free insulation for 3000 homes was notched by Healthy Homes Tai Tokerau on Thursday.
Pauline Devine and two of her children, Anita, nearly 2, and Havili, 3, were at Manaia Health in Whangarei to help celebrate the project that has taken a huge number of homes out of the unsafe zone and improved families' health.
Mrs Devine and her husband Phillip are amazed at the difference in one of their four children's health in particular since having their home insulated two years ago. That child, now 6, used to be in hospital every few months because of chronic asthma.
"It was a battle to get on top of his medical condition and we also knew we lived in a very damp house. His improvement is a combination of getting him on the right medicine and having our house made warmer," Mrs Devine said.
"It makes such a difference as a parent, not having that worry about your child's health quite so much. When the house was insulated two years ago we immediately noticed the difference. Now the kids get a cold and it goes away. We used to be sitting in jackets inside, crowded around a heater. Now we ask ourselves, do we really need a heater on?"
Northland health workers, and experts on public and population health attended the celebration. One speaker was Philippa Howden-Chapman from Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, an internationally respected expert on health determinants and impacts.
The Healthy Homes Te Tokerau project is based on Dr Howden-Chapman's research which found people living in insulated homes experienced a 40-50 per cent reduction in colds and respiratory conditions. It is estimated that for every $1 spent on insulating homes $3 is saved in the health sector.
More than 1600 deaths occur nationwide each winter from respiratory and circulatory problems, compared with 900 lives lost in traffic accidents.
"This project makes such sense. If we can keep people's homes warm we can prevent illness and have less GP visits, hospital admissions and sick days off work and school," Manaia Health chief executive and Healthy Homes chairman Chris Farrelly said.
Earlier last week, Northland District Health Board paediatrician Roger Tuck spoke out about the impact of adverse family conditions, including damp, cold housing, on an overtaxed Whangarei Hospital children's ward. Dr Tuck said cold homes were a significant determinant on poverty-related health problems.
The community-owned, non profitable Community Business and Environment Centre (CBEC) in Kaitaia and He Iwi Kotahi Tatou Trust (He Iwi) in Moerewa have the contracts to insulate the homes of low-income families free of charge.