A Māori health leader is warning Pharmac that removing ethnicity-based access to key diabetes medicines will deepen health inequities and put whānau lives at risk.
Dr Maira Patu, Te Tauraki Board Director, says the Māori and Pacific pathway must be retained for diabetes treatments that help reduce the risk of serious complications, including heart disease and kidney disease.
Te Tauraki says the proposed change would make it harder for Māori and Pasifika patients to access medicines that have been shown to deliver better outcomes for communities already carrying a disproportionate burden of diabetes.
The concern is that patients could be pushed back towards standard treatments such as metformin alone, even when newer medicines may provide greater protection against long-term complications.
Māori and Pacific communities experience higher rates of diabetes, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and premature death. Health advocates say targeted access pathways exist because equal treatment in an unequal system does not produce equitable outcomes.
Dr Patu says removing the ethnicity pathway reflects a wider pattern of policy decisions that weaken Māori health equity under the language of neutrality.
She says the move risks ignoring the lived reality of whānau who face barriers to timely diagnosis, specialist care, medicines access and ongoing diabetes management.
The debate also raises broader questions about Te Tiriti obligations in the health system. Māori health leaders argue agencies such as Pharmac must actively uphold equity, not retreat from targeted measures designed to address known disparities.
Te Tauraki is calling on Pharmac to retain and strengthen access pathways for Māori and Pasifika patients, rather than removing tools that help clinicians respond to risk earlier.
For whānau living with diabetes, the issue is not simply about medicine funding. It is about whether the health system is prepared to confront inequity directly, or whether Māori and Pasifika communities will once again be asked to carry the cost.
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