Supporting people with migraine disease in Aotearoa New Zealand
Migraine Foundation Aotearoa New Zealand
Migraine disease is a debilitating neurological condition. An estimated 753,000 people live with migraine in New Zealand. It’s more prevalent than diabetes, epilepsy and stroke combined, however migraine is misunderstood, under-diagnosed, under-treated and under-researched.
People with migraine living in Aotearoa have limited access to migraine support, specialised care and treatment and migraine-specific medications. Migraine Foundation Aotearoa New Zealand provides a collective voice for people in New Zealand living with this invisible and disabling condition.
What’s New
Information Migraine features in Neurological Foundation’s Headlines magazine
Information Highlights from day one of the Migraine World Summit 2025
Information Pregnancy and migraine
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 Stories
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.
Mara, Auckland
How long have you had migraine and what type of migraine do you have? I had my first migraine attack at around age 12 and continued to suffer episodic migraine attacks during my teens and twenties. After the birth of my second child my migraine attacks became more chronic and
Mart, Porirua
How long have you had migraine and what type of migraine do you have? For 52 years, I get aura migraines. How does migraine disease impact your life? It means I often can’t do my job to the best of my ability, which is massively frustrating as I set myself
Melva, Hamilton
How long have you had migraine and what type of migraine do you have? I had thumping blood rushes when I woke up, and times of visual aura with head pain from when I was about 10 years old. I was X-rayed and given medication in my teens so I
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 a once-every-few-months-or-so to an average of three (sometimes more) times a week in my mid-20s. This has continued pretty much unabated – I’m
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