Migraine Foundation was back for our second year exhibiting at the Rotorua General Practice Conference & Medical Exhibition (GPCME) this month, with an education stand at the 3-day conference.
The 2026 Rotorua GPCME was attended by over 1,000 healthcare professionals working within primary care, held at the Rotorua Energy Events Centre from 11–14 June 2026. Our 3 person team – Sarah, Fiona and Amanda – had individual conversations about migraine with around 150 doctors and nurses who came to our stand, all interested to know about the latest in migraine care.
This year we had a range of resources available, including our acute treatments for migraine and preventive medications for migraine factsheets, both recently endorsed by the Royal New Zealand College of GPs, the latest bpac migraine article and quick guide, our plain English patient brochures in 6 languages and our myth-busting cards that challenges some common migraine myths.
As well as our education stand, the migraine voice was elevated by our Clinical Advisory Group member and neurologist Dr Rosamund Hill, who presented about migraine to a packed conference room on day 2 of the conference.
One highlight from the conference was the change in conversations we had this year with health professionals compared with last year. More health professionals have been referring their patients to us, there was greater knowledge about the newer migraine-specific preventive medications available in New Zealand and overall a sense that migraine is being better understood as a disabling, neurological condition rather than ‘just a headache’.
In a nice coincidence, while we were at the conference we received this message via our online support group from one of our members.
“I have been suffering from headaches/migraine for the last 20 years. I have noticed an improvement in attitude to how I am treated in an acute emergency setting from the staff. I put this down to the wonderful work Migraine Foundation Aotearoa New Zealand does to educate health professionals.
Over the years I’ve had some ridiculous comments made to me, for example, while I was pregnant and had a migraine attack my doctor told me “It wouldn’t have happened if you’d eater properly,” and being told by a doctor after an 8 hour wait at the 24 hour clinic that “You’re not dying.” Or being told by a health professional that “I had a migraine once, I had a pint of extra strong Tennent’s beer and it went away.”
My last visit several months ago was so positive. A doctor who had actually read my notes. Said I see you’ve had migraine for 20 years. Genuinely interested in the treatment I’d tried.
Thank you Migraine Foundation Aotearoa New Zealand for the positive experiences I have been receiving. There has certainly been a change in attitude from the doctors, and the nurses have always been wonderfully supportive.”
Huge thank you to Amanda Lowe from Fusion 5 for using her volunteer day, and volunteering her weekend, to join us at the conference, Ella Jensen-Graham for poster design and Helen Bowler Designs for designing our t-shirts.
Also thank you to Teva for sponsorship of our education stand and attendance and Fidelity Life for supporting other associated costs through its We Support Who You Support grant earlier in the year.
