Health Coalition Aotearoa, backed by 65 organisations ranging from the Cancer Society and Women’s Refuge to city missions and universities, has issued an open letter urging the Government to keep alcohol industry lobbying out of harm-reduction policy.

Health experts and community leaders are calling for urgent action to reduce alcohol harm across Aotearoa, as new figures highlight the heavy toll alcohol takes on whānau, workplaces, and the health system.

Alcohol is one of the leading contributors to preventable death and disease in New Zealand, linked to cancers, liver disease, heart problems, mental distress, and violence. Māori communities are disproportionately affected, with higher rates of alcohol-related hospitalisations and harm, even though overall drinking rates are similar to or lower than the general population.

Senior hospital doctors (members of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, ASMS) began a 48-hour strike starting just after midnight on Monday.

• Non-nursing / non-medical health professionals in Auckland (such as physiotherapists, social workers, allied health) – members of the Public Service Association (PSA) – are doing short strikes (two hours in the mornings) on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Nurses: through the NZ Nurses Organisation – are also on strike days this week (Tuesday and Thursday). The strike involves more than 36,000 members.

Several issues are pushing health workers into industrial action:

• Pay disputes: Many believe the offers on the table are insufficient, especially when compared to inflation and rising cost-of-living. Some offers have been seen as “real pay cuts” once inflation is taken into account.

• Staffing and safety: Workers argue that staffing levels are unsafe and unsustainable. They say being stretched beyond capacity is affecting care, increasing burnout, and threatening patient safety.

• Working conditions: Long hours, insufficient staff coverage, especially outside core hours or in rural areas, and expectations to meet expanded service models without matching funding or staffing.

• Thousands of surgeries, specialist appointments, follow-ups, and elective / non-urgent care are delayed or cancelled. For example, Health NZ estimates about 13,000 patients will be affected by the doctors’ strike.

• Hospitals are remaining open for emergencies; life-preserving services are being maintained. But non-urgent and planned services are being scaled down.

• The strikes highlight both acute and chronic strain in the system: ageing workforce, high turnover, difficulty recruiting and retaining staff, and the cumulative effects of underfunding.

• Health NZ has expressed disappointment, particularly around the senior doctors’ strike, saying that they’ve put forward improved packages and believe bargaining options have been exhausted.

• For the nurses, Health NZ and the Minister are pushing back against the idea that current offers are too low, but have also acknowledged the staffing and safety concerns. The government has been criticized by unions as not being responsive enough.