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October 15, 2024
Public health report challenges racist system
Atereano Mateariki
Posted On October 15, 2024
Download AudioA public health physician says ethnicity alone is not a determinant of poor health; rather, it is a racist health system that makes ethnicity a strong predictor of need.
A public health report released last month, was in response to a Cabinet circular issued in September, directing all public services, including health agencies, to focus on need rather than ethnicity.
Waipapa Taumata Rau Senior Research Fellow at Te Kupenga Hauora Maori, Dr Belinda Loring says this directive and the politics surrounding it go against scientific evidence and should be rejected by the health and science communities.
“We have a mountain of robust evidence that demonstrates higher Māori health needs. The very fact that we still have inequities for Māori in life expectancy, exposure to risk factors, access to care, quality of care received, and health outcomes are all evidence that the measures we’ve been taking haven’t been adequate to meet Māori health needs,” says Loring.
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