For the first time, migraine was included in the list of health topics being discussed at the Hub at Pasifika Festival on 14-15 March 2026 – alongside heart health, stroke, kidney health, breast cancer and bowel cancer.
Migraine may not cause premature death, like some cancers, but it can bring a level of misery that makes it the most disabling neurological condition in children and adolescents and the second most disabling in adults (after stroke), according to the 2021 Global Burden of Disease.
Thanks to a grant from Aotearoa Gaming Trust, we were able to have our migraine patient brochure translated and available in five languages – te reo Māori, Samoan, Tongan, Nuiean and Cook Island Māori at our stall. These can be downloaded from our patient resources page and we’ll be taking them to other events we attend this year.
We met with dozens of people – all ages, all ethnicities, all with their own unique stories of migraine. And although some people were managing okay, a common theme was a lack of awareness of all the ways a migraine attack can be effectively treated. Many people talked about retreating into a dark room and taking paracetamol, which they admitted did not work very well! Not many had heard of or tried all the available triptans – the migraine-specific medication that works to abort a migraine attack. The injectable form of sumatriptan was not well known, even among those who had vomiting as part of their attacks, for which the injection can be the only way to get the medicine into the body.
Most of our conversations were about the fundamentals of treating a migraine attack – recognise the signs, take medication early, take a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory like ibuprofen or naproxen, and if this isn’t effective enough, ask your health provider for a triptan. Take an anti-emetic medication to suppress nausea and vomiting – this will also help the other medications get absorbed. If attacks are coming more than once a week, we’d encourage people to consider a preventive medication, which can not only reduce the number of attacks but stop them getting worse. And all of us benefit from the healthy behaviours that our brains appreciate – getting good sleep, eating well, keeping active.
Many thanks to everyone who volunteered their time to hang out at the stall – Caitlin, Amanda, Fiona, Rachel, Bev, Sofiia; Darren, Sarah, Robert and Pamela for transport, logistics and supplies.
