November 16, 2022
Remote access block to Māori health care
Māori suffer a double blow when accessing healthcare, according to new research published in the latest New Zealand Medical Journal.
University of Otago epidemiologist Professor Jason Gurney from Ngatiwai says Maori are more likely than non-Maori to live in rural areas, and nearly a third of those living in the most remote areas are Maori.
That means they are more likely to have to travel long distances for treatment for diseases like cancer, which is delivered in large hospitals.
More work could be done on getting specialist services out where they are needed, as is increasingly being done with dialysis.
“We haven’t really considered properly how we could deliver chemotherapy within marae for example. I think we need to have a better conversation and discussion about how we can make that happen safely,” Dr Gurneysays.