November 28, 2016
Racism a health issue
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A convenor of this week’s Pacific Region Indigenous Doctors conference in Auckland says Maori and other indigenous doctors need to stand up against racism.
Dr Rawiri Jansen says in the health system there are growing numbers of Maori, Hawaiian and other indigenous doctors as medical schools wake up to the need to produce a health workforce that matches the population.
But he says even with that increase, the battle for a responsive health system is not over.
"Some of these students will be going through a system in which they experience racism. Certainly our patients are going through a system which delivers them worse outcomes and often really traumatic experiences of racism in the system. So challenging difficult conversation but we've got to be up for having that conversation and telling the truth about racism in the system," he says.
Rawiri Jansen says the 250 doctors at the conference were challenged by former associate health minister Dame Tariana Turia to keep whanau at the centre of their practice, in contrast to the traditional medical model of centering round an individual.
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