December 10, 2020
Better housing key to respiratory health
The Asthma and Respiratory Foundation says an increase in the supply of good quality houses for Māori and Pacific whānau is the best cure for New Zealand's dire respiratory illness numbers.
Chief executive Letitia Harding says the Stats NZ's latest Housing in Aotearoa report confirms there are high levels of inequality between the living conditions of Māori and Pacific peoples and those of other New Zealanders.
Māori and Pacific people are two times more likely to live in damp housing and more than two times more likely to be hospitalised for respiratory disease.
"Māori are 2.4 times higher than any other group to have respiratory diseases. We know for asthma it's three times higher than Europeans or other New Zealanders. Pneumonia it's four times higher for Māori children. I mean it's not good enough," Ms Harding says.
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