Supporting Kiwis to live better with migraine
Join our 2026 advocacy campaign
New Zealanders with migraine are being denied public access to medications that are fully funded, standard of care treatments overseas. Your action during 2026 helps give Kiwis with migraine a better future.
What’s New
Advocacy Medicines access crisis – campaign launch
Advocacy Strengthening migraine literacy at the New Zealand Nurse Practitioner Conference 2026
Advocacy Growing understanding of migraine highlighted at Rotorua GPCME 2026
Migraine in New Zealand
Globally, treatment and knowledge about migraine have improved in recent years. In New Zealand, we still face many challenges.
The number and variety of treatments for migraine have expanded greatly in past years. People with migraine no longer have to take medications that were developed for other diseases; there are now treatments specifically targeted at migraine. But what are some of the challenges facing people in Aotearoa New Zealand living with migraine? And what data have we captured from our Migraine in Aotearoa New Zealand 2022 survey?
Migraine Voices
Living with migraine disease can be challenging. Those of us with migraine know that it’s more than just a headache. Migraine is a whole body disease that affects everyone differently. Members of the Migraine Foundation Aotearoa New Zealand community share their stories about living with migraine and how there’s hope, even when some days it can feel like a struggle.
Fiona, Wellington
How long have you had migraine and what type of migraine do you have? I’ve had episodic migraine for most of my life but it changed from an attack once-every-few-months-or-so to an average of three or more times a week in my mid-20s. This continued pretty much unabated into my
Achim, Kāpiti Coast
How long have you had migraine and what type of migraine do you have? I started getting headaches about 25 years ago, maybe once a month. Over the years the headaches developed into migraines and the frequency increased steadily to the current status of about six a week. The headaches
Jackie, Nelson
How long have you had migraine and what type of migraine do you have? I can’t really remember when my migraine attacks first started, maybe around age 14 when I first got my period. I have episodic migraine without aura. How does migraine disease impact your life? Migraine is usually
Amanda, Auckland
How long have you had migraine and what type of migraine do you have? I’ve had headaches and migraines since high school, so around 40 years now. I’m now in my early 50’s and post-menopausal. I typically have a headache most days that I feel pressure but I try not
Making an impact for New Zealanders
How do we make a difference for the 733,000 women, men and children living with migraine in New Zealand?
- We connect and support people with migraine.
- We increase awareness of migraine disease and advocate for positive change.
- We create and disseminate robust, evidence-based information about migraine.
- We support and undertake New Zealand-focused research and collaborate with researchers in planning, recruiting and dissemination of findings.
Our supporters and partners
