November 15, 2017
Cultural push on asthma needed
There’s a call to base culturally targeted healthcare programmes in churches and on marae to reduce the impact of severe asthma in Maori and Pasifika communities.
New Zealand has the fourth highest hospital admission rates for asthma of all OECD countries with Pasifika and Maori children twice as likely to be admitted as European children.
Asthma mortality rates are also highest among Maori and Pasifika peoples, with rates five times higher than for other ethnicities.
Asthma Foundation expert advisory group member Dr Api Talemaitoga says Maori and Pasifika sufferers are often require urgent after-hours medical attention or admission to hospital.
A new report found marae based treatment programmes had improved outcomes for Maori with severe asthma.
Dr Talemaitoga says health days at churches had been an effective part of rheumatic fever, pneumococcal and whooping cough programmes for Pasifika and should be used to address severe asthma.
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