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Digital Health Association Responds To More Cuts At Health NZ
The Digital Health Association is alarmed to hear of further cuts of $100 million from Health New Zealand’s data and digital funding, saying it could undermine healthcare delivery in New Zealand for years to come.
The Association is responding to claims that Health New Zealand is set to lose even more money from its already decimated data and digital fund.
Chief executive, Ryl Jensen, says the latest reported cuts come on top of the $340 million of funding that was ‘re-prioritised’ away from data and digital in Budget 2024.
“That’s nearly half a billion dollars slashed from a fund that’s supposed to leverage New Zealand’s innovative digital technology sector and take our health sector into the 21st century,” Jensen said.
“These cuts will absolutely affect front-line services.”
Jensen says digital technology directly supports clinical and administration operation and is essential for cyber-security throughout the heath sector.
It was also front and centre in the recent Government Policy Statement on Health, released by Health Minister Shane Reti, which stressed the need for digital initiatives and solutions.
Jensen says digital initiatives have the potential to transform New Zealand’s ailing health system, ensuring it is not only resilient but also future-proofed to meet the needs of an ageing and growing population with increasingly complex health needs.
“We can’t continue operating our health system as we have been. It’s simply not sustainable.”
She says these cuts go against the global direction of digital health investment.
New Zealand is already well behind in digital health technology investment compared to other countries.
New Zealand spends between 2.5 and 3 percent of the total health budget on these technologies compared to international averages of between 5 and 8 percent and over 10 per cent by countries at the forefront of this transformation.
“Cuts like this just exacerbate the problem, pushing us further and further behind as a country.
“This could really undermine healthcare delivery in New Zealand for years to come.”
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