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December 02, 2021
Māori input needed to make noho tapu work
Adam Gifford
Posted On December 2, 2021
Download AudioThe co-chair of Tāmaki Makaurau’s Taumata Kōrero collective of iwi and marae says health authorities need to make way for a Māori-led response to supporting people in community isolation.
Rangimarie Hunia from Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei says the deaths of two Māori men last month in their homes, which a review has found were preventable, was not acceptable.
The review highlighted a failure to engage with Māori support services at that time.
She says Māori services have been brought in too late, but the picture may be changing.
“I want to Māori-led responses in and amongst this noho tapu or isolation in the community because that hasn’t been as deliberate and I think given over 50 per cent of cases are Māori there needs to be more of that so the quicker this government and the quicker Health does that the better off we will be to make sure this does not occur on our watch,” Ms Hunia says.
Rangimarie Hunia
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