The World Health Organisation has reported two cases of Nipah virus infection in West Bengal, India, with no evidence of international spread and very low risk to Aotearoa. Travellers to affected areas should avoid contact with sick animals (especially fruit bats and pigs), raw date palm juice, and unwashed fruit, while practicing good hand hygiene. Read the National Public Health Service advisory for full details.

Significant dengue outbreaks across the Pacific have resulted in 86 cases in Aotearoa so far in 2026, with 75 linked to Cook Islands travel. Consider dengue if your patient is a recent traveller to a Pacific Island and presents with flu-like illness, rash, or gastrointestinal symptoms and watch for warning signs of severe illness. Advise travellers to use DEET mosquito repellent, and refer to Community HealthPathways for full management details.

This eight week course comprises 150 hours of learning equating to approximately 10 hours of study per week. The aim of this micro credential is to develop participant's proficiency in the principles, knowledge and practice of trauma informed care, when caring for people with multidimensional experiences of trauma, and their whānau.

Advance your nursing practice and help improve cervical screening equity across Aotearoa. This EIT-delivered micro-credential supports registered nurses to gain the knowledge, skills, and competencies required to become accredited cervical sample takers under the National Cervical Screening Programme (NCSP).

Te Whatu Ora has initiated a national incident response following severe adverse events linked to faulty Freestyle Libre 3 Plus sensors. Read more about this and how to support affected patients.

Pathlab is receiving a significant number of LBC samples with either labelling issues or the samples collection devices being incorrectly placed in the wrong well. They ask practices please ensure accurate and consistent sample collection using the following processes.

Technology for all people living with type 1 (T1) diabetes has been fully funded since October 2024, with 66 per cent of people with T1 in Waikato now using Automated Insulin Delivery (AID). If you have patients with T1 not using an insulin pump, please discuss the benefits of AID and refer them to the Regional Diabetes Service via BPAC for assessment and support.

On 4 December 2025, the director general of health published a new Gazette notice listing the prescription medicines registered nurses prescribing in primary health and specialty teams (registered nurse prescribers) are permitted to prescribe (the medicine list). Overall, the new medicines list extends the availability of medicines that nurses are able to prescribe. The list has been extended by an additional 202 medicines.

An amendment to the Medicines Regulations 1984 (Regulation 44A) to enable authorised vaccinators to administer vaccines and medicines for the purposes of an approved immunisation programme came into force on Friday 19 December 2025. This means that authorised vaccinators no longer require a prescription.

Te Whatu Ora has confirmed that the reporting start date for the new National Primary Care Data Set and the data-sharing requirements linked to contingent capitation, has been extended to 31 March 2026. We’ll provide a clear summary of what this means for Pinnacle practices, including options and next steps, once the final Data Access and Use Agreement and framework are released in early 2026.