February 01, 2023
Floods change for Maori approach
A Maori health leader says this week’s bad weather is a chance for the new Maori health authority to prove its worth.
Te Aka Whai Ora chief medical officer Rawiri McKree-Jansen says Maori communities want to see a change from business as usual practices which have failed them in the past.
He says Te Aka Whai Ora’s approach of deciding what is important and getting on with it many be uncomfortable for other parts of the system – but it’s worth doing.
“If we can get busy doing that week in and week out over these months, I think that will take it off the political agenda because we’re not going to have an election based on whether Te Aka Whai Ora should exist. People are gong to have election voting based on what are the important issues for them,” Dr Jansen says.
Te Aka Whai Ora also needs to communicate its long term vision for structural change in the health system, such as making screening and vaccination programmes work for Maori.