NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
    • The Great NZ Road Trip
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • Deloitte Fast 50
    • Generate wealth weekly
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Kahu

100 years for Māori life expectancy to reach that of Pākehā, says report

Other
28 Sep, 2021 11:29 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
The gap in life expectancy between the wealthiest and the poorest and middle-income New Zealanders is widening. Photo / Getty Images

The gap in life expectancy between the wealthiest and the poorest and middle-income New Zealanders is widening. Photo / Getty Images

By Māori Television

A new report finds that, based on current trends, it will take a century for Māori life expectancy to reach that of Pākehā, unless dramatic changes are made to the health system.

The Creating Solutions Te Ara Whai Tika report by the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Toi Mata Hauora recommends a national goal of achieving health equity for all New Zealanders by 2040, and lays out a roadmap of policies to get there.

It follows presentations, discussions, and input from more than 200 health professionals who attended a virtual conference co-hosted by ASMS and the Canterbury Charity Hospital Trust, established by Dame Sue Bagshaw and Associate Professor Phil Bagshaw.

Not only is there a gap in life expectancy between Māori and Pākehā men of about 7.6 years, the gap in life expectancy between the wealthiest and the poorest and middle-income New Zealanders is widening. The wealthiest 10 per cent of New Zealanders can now expect to live a decade longer than the poorest 10 per cent, who are disproportionately Māori and Pasifika.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Health equity means everyone has the opportunity and support to live the healthiest life they can.

ASMS executive director Sarah Dalton says, unfortunately, that's a very distant reality in Aotearoa New Zealand.

"It is shocking to think that we have some groups of people dying 10 years sooner than others and successive governments have failed to act.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Our doctors and nurses are treating patients in hospitals only to send them back home to the conditions that made them sick in the first place. You cannot have a fit-for-purpose public hospital system without addressing core social issues like poverty, racism, poor housing and unhealthy foods.

"Currently we wait until people are so sick, they get admitted to hospital to receive diagnosis and treatment. This is without doubt the least cost-effective way to run our health system. It leads to overburdened hospitals, long wait times, and burned-out healthcare workers," Dalton says.

The report recommends cost barriers such as GP user charges must be removed to help the estimated 540,000 adult New Zealanders who can't access a GP due to cost. In addition, more than 1.7 million adults can't access a dentist due to user charges.

Health inequities cost New Zealand billions of dollars in avoidable illness and hospitalisations. Addressing them would bring economic benefits such as improved productivity, higher tax revenues and reduced costs in social and government allowances.

Discover more

New Zealand|politics

60,000 sign petition for Aotearoa rename

28 Sep 10:51 PM
New Zealand|politics

Oranga Tamariki 'weak, disconnected, unfit' – nearly all child uplifts to stop

28 Sep 10:44 PM
New Zealand

Ōpōtiki wins US contract for $400m greenshell mussels export

28 Sep 06:56 PM
Opinion

Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: Unite on nation's mental wellbeing to endure Covid

28 Sep 04:00 PM

Health inequity has been a long time in the making, and recently it has been magnified by the Covid-19 pandemic.

"If we want to rebuild our economy and future-proof our health system, health equity must be front and centre, especially as the government pushes ahead with wholesale health sector reform. Having a Māori Health Authority with full commissioning rights is one very positive step in the right direction," Dalton says.

The ASMS Creating Solutions report recommends a package of policies to help New Zealand achieve a goal of health equity by 2040.

It is being presented to the Government as an urgent call to target its health and wellbeing spend where it's most needed.

Save
    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

Wellington

'Generations played in it': Beloved tree down, school damaged by wind

Premium
OpinionAdam Pearse

Adam Pearse: Peters wars with the left, immigration tussle grows on the right

New Zealand

Blood moon: How to get the ultimate view of tomorrow's rare lunar eclipse


Sponsored

NZ’s convenience icon turns 35

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

'Generations played in it': Beloved tree down, school damaged by wind
Wellington

'Generations played in it': Beloved tree down, school damaged by wind

The 'lovely' tree fell in high winds this weekend. Children were climbing it yesterday.

07 Sep 08:32 AM
Premium
Premium
Adam Pearse: Peters wars with the left, immigration tussle grows on the right
Adam Pearse
OpinionAdam Pearse

Adam Pearse: Peters wars with the left, immigration tussle grows on the right

07 Sep 08:13 AM
Blood moon: How to get the ultimate view of tomorrow's rare lunar eclipse
New Zealand

Blood moon: How to get the ultimate view of tomorrow's rare lunar eclipse

07 Sep 07:26 AM


NZ’s convenience icon turns 35
Sponsored

NZ’s convenience icon turns 35

02 Sep 09:23 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP