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Download AudioThe Health Ministry is being accused of mishandling the health data it has been told to share with the North Island Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency.
Health Minister Andrew Little says his ministry is finalising data sharing and security agreements with Māori entities, including iwi.
Dr Rawiri Jansen from the Māori pandemic response group Te Rōpū Whakakaupapa Urutā says it’s taken too long, given the High Court found there was an emergency that justified the release of the data.
He says the evidence is clear that Māori calling Māori gets a better result, and having those conversations is an important part of the Māori vaccination strategy.
“Unfortunately this data sharing is coming at a time when multiple other pākehā agencies have had access to it and have been ringing up and annoying our people. We’re going to get access to it and it has been muddied by other organisations and I’m a bit pissed off about that,” Dr Jansen says.
He says the Health Ministry has done a poor job of keeping ethnicity data, and probably 10 to 15 percent of Māori aren’t registered with primary health organisations.
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