Pati said there’ll be conversations around keeping up to date with immunisations across all ages.
“HPV is very important for our teenagers, and I know that there’s a lot of catch-up for our Pacific Islanders for measles with the history in Samoa,” he said.
“We’re still doing flu shots for all ages, and we’re promoting just trying to draw our Pacific Islanders in.”
He said education was more important than trying to jab people.
“Whether it’s Pasifika or non-Pasifika, there’s always going to be our patient demographic who need a bit more help to understand the myths and facts.”
There was a focus on building relationships through the event that would serve as a foundation for the future, for providers to gather to extend support networks.
“When I go out into the community one of the main comments I hear from families is: ‘Oh that’s good to know’ or ‘I didn’t know that’, so we’re trying to turn that into knowing where to go.
“Immigration and social support stuff also comes under this because you can’t just measure health through something like blood pressure.”
Many Pacific families were new to the area so having a platform to introduce them to what was available was incredibly valuable.
“It really is just enabling of the Pacific community to know there’s always help regardless of the situation.
“You’re working with families who have mum going to work in the morning, and dad going to work in the evening, and there’s this family routine where the parents are always working, and there’s no time to go out and check for this for your wellbeing.”
He said 30 organisations and the Pasifika community workforce team had all banded together to organise the event.
The Pasifika for Pasifika event will take place on October 28 from 11am to 2pm at the Springvale Stadium in Whanganui.
Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.
