NZ has highest rate of brain disease deaths, study shows

New Zealand has the world’s highest mortality rate from motor neuron disease, with an average of two deaths each week, an international medical conference in Auckland has heard.

Valery Feigin, a medical specialist at Auckland University of Technology, told the event that NZ needed to more than double the number of qualified neurologists to deal with the high rate of occurrence.

He said healthcare services in NZ were “overstretched” and that the waiting time for a neurological consultation could be more than a year. “We currently have 36 full-time-equivalent neurologists, but according to our estimates, we need 86,” he said.