Māori Women 3 Times More Likely to Die of Cervical Cancer

Immediate Release

13 November 2019

Māori Women Three Times More Likely to Die of Cervical Cancer than Non-Māori

“Depth of Inequity is Unacceptable & Unethical”

The death rates of Māori women to cancer is a national disgrace – Māori.are three times likely to die than non-Māori.

These national statistics and the inequitable, unacceptable and unethical delays in diagnosis was the focus of submissions today in Parliament at the continuing inquiry into health inequities for Māori.

Historic Wai 2757 health co-claimant, Chair of the National Urban Māori Authority and Managing Director of Te Kōhao Health, Lady Tureiti Moxon didn’t mince her words while endorsing the submission by Te Tātai Hauora O Hine.

The Māori Affairs Select Committee heard the confronting deadly statistics of Māori women’s health - deaths caused by preventable diseases that are not being diagnosed.

The death rates of wahine Māori versus Pākēha is grim - Māori are three times likely to die than non-Māori.

”Even though whānau turn up for appointments, we obtain fewer diagnosis tests, less effective treatment plans and are referred for secondary or tertiary procedures at significantly lower rates than Pākēha patients,” Lady Moxon says.

“The depth of inequity suffered by Māori that’s been going on for two decades is simply unacceptable.”

Te Kōhao Health’s solution is centted on self-determination.It wants to create it’s own wellness centre complete with diagnostic equipment offering free services to cater to a Māori population of 90,000.

It would harness the power of a collective of whānau, Iwi providers, Waikato DHB radiologist, surgeon, pathologist on-site and reduce the wait time from 3 months to 45 minutes.

Lady Moxon went on to advise the Select Committee that Māori-led solutions work and the current public health system does not.

“We brought our recommendations that included a separate Hauora Authority to the attention of the Waitangi Tribunal in our closing submissions in the historic Health Services and Outcomes Inquiry.”

They agreed with us. We wait for the Government to as well.

Te Kōhao Health is a Hamilton based NGO that serves 10,000 in its catchment area and the National Urban Māori Authority represents a collective of 170,000 urban Māori.

For more go to: https://www.tekohaohealth.co.nz/ and http://www.numa.co.nz/.

ENDS

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