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The chair of the Māori affairs select committee says an inquiry into inequities in the health system is a way the committee can drive real change.
The committee yesterday considered a petition led by Malcolm and Wiki Mulholland calling for an inquiry into Pharmac's funding of late stage cancer drugs, and decided it should look at not just the government's drug buying agency but wider issues in the system.
Rino Tirikatene says the committee will now work on terms of reference so the inquiry is manageable and leads to focused recommendations.
"We want to make sure we have sufficient breadth, if we are doing an inquiry, making it not just focused on specific unfunded medicines but looking at wider issues which can benefit Māori as well, but I do acknowledge Malcolm, Wiki, all the advocacy that has been going on," he says.
Previous Māori Affairs committee inquiries have led to the Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 target and better access by whānau to tūpāpaku.
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