July 08, 2022
Mask campagin part of gang health strategy
A Black Power leader says a campaign to promote mask wearing is part of a wider effort to address health issues in vulnerable communities.
The E Mau i to Arai Kanohi – Mask Up campaign includes distribution of a pack with an instructional booklet and a range of masks.
Eugene Ryder says it’s part of the gang’s Oranga Mana Ake strategy for improved health literacy and wellbeing amongst Whānau of the Fist.
He says discussions with rangatahi revealed they had concerns for the elderly and vulnerable in their whanau and wanted to know how to address not just Covid but other health issues.
“A lot of vulnerable communities are dying too early because they aren’t addressing their heath issues because they don’t engage with health services. Some of that is self-imposed – there’s a them and us whakairo and if you’re not us, you’re them and that’s kind of where it lays so we are trying to challenge that whakairo and model the expectations we have of others,” Mr Ryder says.
The mask campaign has been made possible through the support of the National Hauora Coalition.