Maori must stop believing their own stereotype if they want to improve their dismal health statistics.
That's the call from leading Maori health professional Dr Paparangi Reid who says the attitude of Pakeha toward Maori, and Maori people's own negative beliefs, need to change before any real improvement can happen.
For
too long Maori have been stereotyped as being "good for nothing" and the "instigators of their own misfortune" and they have started to believe it, she says.
The head of the Maori school of Auckland University's Medical and Health Science faculty is in Rotorua for this week's Pacific Region Indigenous Doctors Congress and says Maori need to "stop beating themselves up".
"There are plenty of one liners out there on the radio about Maori under-achievement and poor showing in society. If they [Maori] hear this type of discourse all the time they begin to believe it themselves.
"We have to change the underlying attitude that Maori are undeserving and incapable."
Dr Reid said Maori were acutely aware they were over represented in poor health statistics and other areas of society such as poverty and imprisonment rates.
She cited inequities within the health system and society itself as a major contributor to the unfavourable social statistics relating to Maori.
"We know there are gaps in the health system and although the health of both Maori and Pakeha may have improved over time, the gap between Maori health and the rest of the country hasn't changed," Dr Reid said.
"That's despite the health system being a $10 billion a year industry in this country. As long as Maori are in poverty they will always have difficulty accessing quality care."
The scenario was prevalent in other countries where indigenous people had been colonised, she said.
"It's not about genetics, the Hawaiians may be genetically similar to us but there are first nations people in America and Canada and Aboriginals in Australia. Their experiences are the same - so why is that? It's man-made isn't it?"
A 250 strong contingent of indigenous doctors and medical students from around the Pacific rim including the US, Canada and Australia are in Rotorua this week to discuss improvements for their respective populations.
