Heart risk near 50/50 for Bay's Maori men

By Dylan Thorne
Almost half of Maori men who took part in a controversial screening programme have shown an elevated risk of developing heart disease.
Some 300 Maori men aged 35-45 have been screened for heart disease by Western Bay of Plenty Primary Health Organisation (PHO), since the Cardio Check programme was launched in July.
The 18-month programme aims to reduce the number of Maori men dying early of cardiovascular-related diseases - the main cause of death among Maori.
Participants in the programme were given a cardiovascular risk assessment by their doctor, which included blood screening and diabetes screening.
PHO health promoter Mary-Ann Carter said 143 of the men had been deemed to have some risk of developing heart disease.
Their level of risk ranged from 5 to 25 per cent.
Obesity was one of the major risk factors.
"We were expecting that there would be a need there and that these men were at risk," Ms Carter said.
The free health promotion offers cheap gym memberships, lifestyle coaching and weight loss programmes to those deemed at risk in order to reduce their chance of developing heart disease.
"The aim is to give these men longer lifespans," Ms Carter said.
The number of men who had taken part in the programme has exceeded the health group's expectations.
"When we were planning this, people from Auckland University said we were targeting the hardest group because of their age and the fact they were still working.
"Men between the ages of 35-45 are less likely to respond because they still feel healthy ... but everyday we're getting up to three and four guys coming in for screening. It's fantastic."
Ms Carter said the programme targeted Maori because they had the poorest cardiovascular health outcomes in the country and this appeared to be related to economic deprivation.
"In this region we have a high population of Maori men ... if you want the biggest bang for your buck in terms of cardiovascular disease then you will work with Maori men," she said.
National health spokesman Tony Ryall has criticised the programme as being unfair because people of other races missed out.
"It's good that people at risk of heart disease are told and assisted to keep themselves healthy - but this PHO programme should be available to all people at risk regardless of their race.
But Associate Health Minister Mita Ririnui said it was not a "race-based programme".
"It's a needs-based programme," Mr Ririnui said.
* For the period 1996-99 the Maori male cardiovascular mortality was three times higher than for non-Maori, non-Pacific males.
* Maori female mortality rate was 4.2 times higher than for non-Maori, non-Pacific females.
* Maori life expectancy at birth is 8.3 years less than non-Maori for males and 8.7 years for females.
Cardiovascular disease has been identified as one of the five main causes of death in the Bay and is responsible for 40% of deaths and 13% of hospital admissions.
* Bay of Plenty DHB age standardised cardiovascular disease mortality rate in 1998 was 282/100,000 for Maori compared with 158/100,000 for non Maori.
* Cardiovascular disease hospitalisation rate in 2000-01 was 2138/100,000 for Maori and 645/100,000 for non-Maori.