Updated article on migraine for primary care health professionals
One of the most trusted sources of up-to-date and evidence based information about health conditions and treatment options is bpacNZ. This is a New Zealand not-for-profit organisation that develops and disseminates ‘best practice’ information to GPs and others through their website, reports, email communications and social media. GPs can also get continuing medical education credits […]
Pharmac consultation on possible brand changes
Each year, Pharmac gives pharmaceutical suppliers the opportunity to bid for being the ‘main supplier’ (up to 95%) for a range of medicines. This is called the ‘annual tender’ and means that a medicine currently supplied by one company may switch to a different branded product (e.g. the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen in the past […]
Health professional resources endorsed by the Royal New Zealand College of GPs
We’re delighted to announce that our Preventive medications for migraine and Treatment of acute migraine attacks factsheets we developed for health professionals have been endorsed by the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP). This means the RNZCGP has recognised these as being evidence-based, relevant, of a high quality and appropriate for general practice […]
Migraine discussions at Pasifika Festival 2026
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 […]
Migraine Foundation will be at Pasifika Festival 2026
The Migraine Foundation team is delighted to be a stallholder at the 2026 Pasifika Festival in March. This is the first time we’re attending the event, which is on 14–15 March at Western Springs, Auckland. Thanks to a generous grant from Aoteoroa Gaming Trust, we’ll have our patient trifold brochure available in six languages – […]
Lasmiditan – the migraine drug we didn’t even get to try
The best medications we currently have to treat migraine attacks are the triptans. In Aotearoa New Zealand, we have two of these: sumatriptan and rizatriptan. But although these can be very effective if taken early in an attack, they don’t work for everyone. And some people can’t take them because they constrict blood vessels, which […]
Fremanezumab (Ajovy) now available in New Zealand
The start of 2026 marks further progress for access to calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) medications for Kiwis, with the launch of fremanezumab (Ajovy) in New Zealand this month. Ajovy is the fourth anti-CGRP medication now available in New Zealand. Like the other two injectable CGRP monoclonal antibody medications (Emgality and Aimovig), Ajovy is administered by […]
Nurse and pharmacist prescribers can now prescribe new migraine medications
Registered nurse and pharmacist prescribers can now prescribe the new migraine medications galcanezumab (Emgality), erenumab (Aimovig), fremanezumab (Ajovy) and atogepant (Aquipta). All of these are used to prevent migraine and work by targeting calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), a neurotransmitter implicated in causing migraine attacks. These medications were added to the lists of prescription medicines for […]
Latest estimates of numbers of people with migraine in New Zealand
For many health conditions in Aotearoa New Zealand, including migraine, there is limited regular, consistent or robust data collection on prevalence of disease. This means we don’t know as much as we would like to about the number of people who have migraine, particularly the number of Māori, Pacific and Asian people with migraine or […]
October webinar with Dr Rosamund Hill
Please join us on Thursday 30 October, 7pm for a free online webinar with neurologist and headache specialist Dr Rosamund Hill. This webinar is a great opportunity to have your migraine questions answered by Dr Hill. When you register you’ll also have the opportunity to submit a question to be answered during the live session. […]
