Equity
Latest | Media coverage | Commentary | Academic Literature | Legislation | Reports and Government Documents
Exploring the impacts of the health system on minorities within the population, notably including Māori, Pacifica, Asians and LGBTQI; and how interventions, policy and the health system overall can contribute to such groups attaining an equitable health status.
Latest
Media coverage
Claws out as Pacific providers face COVID funding clawbacks
Te Whatu Ora is accused of destroying its relationship with Pacific healthcare providers by retrospectively auditing funding provided during the COVID-19 response in south Auckland.
Fears of privatisation by stealth in an overwhelmed healthcare system
The risk of an increasingly privatised healthcare system is deeply inequitable care, and some fear we could be moving toward a US model
Climate change: Rising heat putting New Zealand children at risk of life-long health problems
Temperatures rising under climate change are putting our youngest increasingly at risk of life-long health problems, scientists warn.
Commentary
Healthcare based on need trickier than you think Mr Luxon
When prime minister Christopher Luxon criticised doctors for prioritising young Māori and Pasifika patients, he called it a matter of need, not ethnicity. But if healthcare isn’t based on ethnicity, how will we truly capture those with the highest need, ponders Lucy O’Hagan
‘An attack on science and good medical practice’
The coalition government has launched “an attack on science and good medical practice” by directing agencies to downplay ethnicity as a marker of need, say a group of health professionals.
Aged care focus needs shift to patient rights, not profit
Frances Matthews questions the ‘warehousing’ approach for older adults needing care and suggests an ACC-style scheme might be the answer to funding
Academic Literature
ASIAN HEALTH IN AOTEAROA 2024
The Asian Health in Aotearoa 2024 report, based on data from the New Zealand Health Survey spanning from 2002 to 2021, has revealed concerning trends in the health of Asian communities in New Zealand.
Interventions to improve equity in emergency departments for Indigenous people: A scoping review
The aim of this scoping review was to map the ED-based interventions aimed at improving equity in care for Indigenous patients in EDs.
Selective under-representation of Pacifc peoples in population estimates for health indicator measurements in Aotearoa New Zealand misinforms policy making
Pacifc people are systematically undercounted, but the impact on health statistics is not well studied.
Legislation and Parliament
Health Entitlement Cards Amendment Regulations 2024
The new entitlement thresholds reflect an increase of 4.66% in the New Zealand Consumers Price Index from the December 2022 quarter to the December 2023 quarter (calculated for all quarters using the New Zealand Consumers Price Index (All Groups))
Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022
The purpose of this Act is to provide for the public funding and provision of services in order to—
(a) protect, promote, and improve the health of all New Zealanders; and
(b) achieve equity in health outcomes among New Zealand’s population groups, including by striving to eliminate health disparities, in particular for Māori; and
(c) build towards pae ora (healthy futures) for all New Zealanders.
Reports and Government Documents
Urgent Debate — Dunedin Hospital—Government Announcement
Hansard Report of the Dunedin Hospital Urgent Debate
Needs-based Service Provision
This circular sets out Government expectations for how the targeting, commissioning, and design of public services should be based on the needs of all New Zealanders.
Key issues
HEALTH SERVICES AND SYSTEMS
EQUITY
DRUGS, DEVICE AND DIAGNOSTICS
PUBLIC HEALTH
DIGITAL HEALTH
TE TIRITI