Nation's health begins outside cities

The way to keep New Zealand healthy was to keep rural New Zealand healthy.

The inaugural National Rural Health Conference will be held in Rotorua this week with the aim of bringing rural health issues into the spotlight.

The conference will bring together a broad rural audience, from health providers, primary industry professionals, and community groups to district councils, researchers, funders and policy makers.

The conference will debate and exchange information that will be used to influence policy affecting the health and wellbeing of rural communities in New Zealand.

Dr Ernesto Sirolli, an international expert on sustainable economic development for rural communities, will deliver a keynote address and workshop.

The conference is being run in partnership by the New Zealand Rural General Practice Network and the Rural Health Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand.

Rural Health Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand chief executive Michelle Thompson said the way to keep New Zealand healthy was to keep rural New Zealand healthy.

"Rural Aotearoa is the heart of our country, it is vital for our economy, it is the focus of our leisure, and central to our national identity.

"We all depend one way or another on sustained services in rural communities, whether we are living and working rurally, visiting or just passing through."

Ms Thompson said the conference was a carefully thought-out combination of shared keynotes and concurrent sessions.

"The result is a great balance of clinical and community-based sessions."

Rural Health Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand is also conducting research on rural mental health issues and Ms Thompson said she hoped to be able to release key findings at the conference.

"We may be in a position to release some key findings around rural mental health and correlations with external factors such as economic and weather events, accidents and injury rates and areas experiencing health practitioner recruitment difficulties."

To register for the conference visit the website, www.conference.co.nz/nrhc15/registration.