Nine To Noon for Thursday 18 July 2024

09:05 Public system will struggle to administer new cancer drugs: Cancer Society

Cancer doctors are welcoming the funding of 13 new cancer drugs, but say with potentially 175,000 cancer patients getting them in the first year, the system for administering them won't cope. Pharmac has received an additional $604 million to cover "up to 54" new medicines including 26 cancer treatments. Health Minister Shane Reti says it will mean the agency can fund all 13 cancer drugs promised at the election, or replacements that are "as good or better", and will benefit about 175,000 people in the first year. Dr Kate Gregory, medical oncologist and co-Medical Director of the Cancer Society, says there are already delays in some centres for cancer patients to get infusions. She says there are already workforce shortages and pressure on laboratories, and she wants to see the funding and adoption of sub-cutaneous injections of some medicines,  which are quicker and can be injected at home or in the community.

09:25 Republican lawmaker Julie Emerson from the RNC in Milwaukee

The Republican National Convention is in full swing in Milwaukee where Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance have been formally nominated as candidates on the Republic ticket for November's election. It's been an extraordinary week in United States politics - with the assassination attempt on former President Trump, overshadowing last week's questioning of President Joe Biden's candidacy for the democrat nomination. Thousands of delegates are at the Convention in Milwaukee. Among them - Representative Julie Emerson -  a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives - the youngest ever to be elected to that house - and policy chair of the House of Republican Caucus.

09:35 Lucky the Pig who outswam Cyclone Gabrielle - now a children's book

Stacey Smith's rural property in Fernhill, Hawkes Bay, was among those hard-hit by Cyclone Gabrielle last year. Three metres of water swept through her family home, at the tail end of two rivers, the Ngaruroro and the Tutaekuri. Stacey, her husband Mike and their three children Bella-  now 8, William now 6, and four year old Sam, climbed onto the roof of the shed and were rescued by helicopter. When they were able to return home, they found a pig had managed to swim into their house and climb to safety on a mattress. Named "Lucky" -the pig's story of survival has now been turned into a children's book, to help other families.

09:45 UK correspondent Matthew Parris

UK correspondent Matthew Parris talks to Kathryn about Sir Keir Starmer's moves to stop local residents blocking housebuilding as Labour's first King's Speech approaches. 

Inflation has held steady in the UK but other factors are complicating a rate cut for the Bank of England while there is heartbreak for a British family whose son's body has been found after going missing four weeks ago on a Spanish island.

10:05 What latest neuroimaging tell us about migraines and the brain

An estimated 753,000 New Zealanders live with migraines, which can be debilitating and disabling. This could be a headache that limits activity for a day or more, light sensitivity, or nausea. New research using advanced imaging techniques is revealing more about what is actually happening in the brain. Auckland-based neurologist Dr Ray Bose specialises in migraine- he received his Doctorate in Clinical Neuroscience from King's College London. Dr Bose says some of the brain changes being identified can be reversed by medications targeting a key neurotransmitter in the brain. He talks to Kathryn about drug and non-drug treatments for migraine, and will take listeners questions, texted to 2101 or emailed to  ninetonoon@rnz.co.nz

10:35 Book review: The End and Everything Before It by Finegan Kruckemeyer 

Phil Vine reviews The End and Everything Before It by Finegan Kruckemeyer published by Text Publishing

10:45 Around the motu : Ellen Curnow in Westport
    
It's three years since Westport's devastating floods which left a quarter of the town's homes red or yellow stickered. Ellen looks back and looks forward. She says many in the community are still feeling vulnerable and question whether the town is any safer now. A proposal to build 16km of floodwalls was approved soon after the floods. Nothing has been built yet.

 Ellen Curnow is reporter at Westport News.
              

11:05 Tech: Why the West is looking skyward for the internet

Technology commentator Juha Saarinen joins Kathryn to look at why an alternative to subsea internet cables is being considered by Western nations. A huge amount of transactions go over the internet, including vital security information. He'll look at the situation in Tonga, which is still suffering outages after a volcanic eruption and a government dispute with Starlink. But could a move to greater reliance on internet satellite leave it vulnerable to attack in space?

Juha Saarinen is technology editor at interest.co.nz 

11:25 How to manage anxiety for young people

Clinical and health psychologist Dr Toni Lindsay says anxiety is a bit like chocolate: a little bit is ok, but too much can make you spin out. She's been working with young people for more than a decade, as well as teaching adolescent medicine the University of Melbourne and the Sydney University nursing school. Dr Lindsay says anxiety is a natural and normal part of being alive, but for some young people, it becomes unmanageable. Her book is a a guide to managing anxiety for young people, called Everything Anxiety Ever Told You is a Lie, published by Exisle Publishing.

11:45 Screentime: Skywalkers, Mr Bigstuff, NZIFF picks

Film and TV reviewer James Croot joins Kathryn to talk about Skywalkers (Netflix), a documentary that follows two Moscow daredevils and lovers who scale some of the world's tallest buildings. But will KL's Merdeka building defeat them? Mr Bigstuff (Neon) is a British series that follows two estranged brothers  - and how their reunion doesn't go smoothly. And James also has his pick of movies to see at this year's New Zealand International Film Festival.

James Croot is the deputy editor of TV Guide