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University of Otago professor of medicine Michael Baker says his New Years Honor was a pleasant surprise and is recognition for all those who work in public health and epidemiology.
Professor Michael Baker
Photo: Supplied
The epidemiologist has been named a member of the Order of Merit for his services to the science of public health.
He has been a professor of public health at the University of Otago in Wellington since 2013 and is director of the Health Environmental Infections Research Unit (HEIRU). He is co-director of the university’s He Kainga Oranga Health and Housing Research Program and the Public Health Summer School.
Professor Baker has a wide range of research interests in public health, with a particular focus on infectious disease, environmental health, and housing, and has published widely in these areas.
As a member of the Covid-19 technical advisory group of the Ministry of Health, he strongly advocated eliminating the virus and keeping it out of the country. His comment helped inform the government’s decision for a national shutdown.
“I guess it symbolizes the fact that the population-based approach that we all practice, and it’s a great team of us doing this, can really make a difference, I think, particularly when the country faces a new misunderstood threat like the Covid Pandemic -19, “said Professor Baker.
He said the critical moment for New Zealand was in March when the country was modeling the influenza pandemic, which was all about mitigating and flattening the curve, and New Zealand shifted direction at the last possible moment towards an elimination approach. .
“We remain the only country in the world that has a written phase-out strategy that we published, and I think that has guided our response ever since.”
Professor Baker said that “a great moment” for him was when a paper he co-authored on the disposal approach was published in the British medical journal December 23th.
“We really looked at the evidence from around the world including New Zealand and concluded that the phase-out strategy not only protects people’s health but also protects economies and we’ve seen better results in countries like New Zealand, Australia, China. and Taiwan who have actually eliminated the virus or had it as our goal … “
Internationally, Professor Baker is a member of the World Health Organization Regional Verification Commission for Measles and Rubella Elimination and the Australian National Health and Medical Research Center for Excellence in Integrated Response Systems a Epidemics.
He also received the HRC Liley Medal in 2013 and the Prime Minister’s Science Award in 2014.
