The health impacts of the Canterbury earthquakes are about to come under scrutiny in a $600,000 research programme.
The Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) and the Canterbury Medical Research Foundation have joined forces and invited researchers to apply for funds to explore how people were affected by the devastating September and February earthquakes.
No one died in the first earthquake in September but the February quake brought down buildings and killed 181 people, including many overseas students and visitors. The damage was estimated to be in the billions of dollars and a large part of the Christchurch central business district is still off limits because of the danger from unstable buildings.
Phil Light, the HRC project manager, said very little research had been conducted into the health impacts of an earthquake.
The research could produce data which could be useful in future disasters, he said.
They have left it to researchers to come up with programmes which could be funded for up to $120,000.
However, he said it could include topics like the emotional and physical impact the quake had had on individuals in the Canterbury region.
"As long as it is do to with health and health research it is open."
In the tender documents the HRC and the foundation said the research could have an impact on future health system disaster responses, both regionally and nationally.
The two organisations said key research themes could be the initial health service response to the earthquakes, the impact of seismic events on health service delivery, short and long-term health implications for individuals, and the impact on public health and community health. However, they also said applicants were not limited to the key themes and should outline why their research was needed and the importance of the information it would generate.
Mr Light said researchers had been given three weeks to apply and programmes were expected to begin about the middle of September, soon applicants had been told if they had been given a grant.
Research could last up to 18 months although Mr Light said some programmes would be much shorter.
