April 14, 2020
Planning for Maori to catch up in restart
Click here for the full interview.
A member of the Māori pandemic response group Te Rōpū Whakakaupapa Urutā says equity needs to be a factor in planning for coming out of the COVID-19 lockdown.
Dr Rawiri Jansen says with the numbers going in the right direction, questions are being asked about what health services need to restart first and how.
That includes things like pregnancy services, cancer treatments and surgeries which may have been put on hold.
New Zealand’s early and comprehensive response to the pandemic has saved lives, and those gains shouldn’t be risked as schools, businesses and other activities resume.
"And as we go through that it can't be just one size fits all. It has to be planned and deliberate in terms of how we do it so we get good outcomes for Māori, that Māori actually come through this in a good way rather than just one size fits all and we will see what happens, that's not good enough for us. We've got a couple of weeks, but we need to start now, we need to start that planning, we need to be influential around that now," Dr Jansen says.
Dr Rawiri Jansen
Copyright © 2020, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com