Typical

April 5 is Advance Care Planning Day. An advance care plan can set out your wants and hopes for your end-of-life care based on: ■ Your personal views and values ■ A better understanding of your current and likely future health ■ The treatment and care options available to you.

Dr Barry Snow, advance care planning clinical spokesperson, says having an advance care plan is particularly important if you become too unwell to tell your loved ones and health care team what you want yourself.

“Having an advance care plan will help you and those around you understand what is important to you and what treatment and care you would like. It focuses on and involves both you and the health care professionals responsible for your care. It may also involve your wha¯nau/family or others close to you, if you wish.”

Dr Snow encourages Kiwis to talk to those close to them about what type of care they would like towards the end of their life.

“Talk to your family/wha¯nau and GP or Eschewing the feminist (ie mainstream) media, the March 15, letter from Margaret Burgess brought to my attention that 1 News on March 11, presented an item displaying decayed children’s teeth, and proposing fluoridation of public water supplies as the solution. This is typical misinformation. I expect that 1 News had been lobbied by Dr Fishoil.

Our own Ministry of Health produces annual statistics as to the effect of fluoridation on children’s teeth (https:/