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Wellington (Tuesday, 30 August 2022) –
Fiction over fact is the basis for the Ministry of
Health’s (MOH) new policies, research by think tank The
New Zealand Initiative reveals.
The fact that neither
the Government nor the MOH could produce objective data to
support their claims that systemic racism is significantly
to blame for poor Māori health outcomes is the most
alarming revelation in the Initiative’s new report,
Every life is worth the same – The case for equal
treatment.
The research, conducted by the
Initiative’s senior fellow Dr Bryce Wilkinson, also
analysed the Government’s prescription to remedy the
situation by prioritising health spending for Māori,
especially in Pharmac’s medicine procurement.
“The
large differences in average health, educational and
economic outcomes across racial groups in New Zealand are
troubling,” says Dr Wilkinson. “The reasons for them
should be rigorously identified. But raw differences do not
justify discriminating against those in other racial groups
who are doing as badly or worse. Nor do they justify better
treatment for those doing better in a ‘priority’ group
than those doing worse in other groups.”
“It is
your circumstances that should count, not your group
classification,” Dr Wilkinson said.
Writing in his
foreword to the report Professor of Medicine Des Gorman
(Ngāpuhi) says, “Data is needed to separate the relative
impacts of genetics and epigenetics from the direct impacts
of social factors such as housing, education and employment
from any inherent and institutionalised racism within our
health system.”
“We can all agree that the time to
address the underlying causes of this inequality is well
overdue. However, what is needed are objective data about
what leads to improved outcomes rather than political
rhetoric,” says Professor Gorman, who supports the
Initiative’s findings.
The report makes the point
that correct medical treatment relies on evidence-based
diagnosis. Government policies should require the
same.
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