National Party leader Christopher Luxon made claims about health outcomes that were clearly false. Why was he left unchallenged?

In the TVNZ leaders’ debate last night, Luxon and Labour’s Chris Hipkins had a testy exchange over Māori healthcare.

Hipkins held firm on the creation of a Māori Health Authority, established last year, arguing strongly that the persistent gaps in health outcomes and care justified it.

Luxon was equally clear in opposition to it. He framed his critique of the authority around an alleged complete lack of progress on Māori health outcomes. He was very specific.

“Every single health outcome has gone backwards under Chris’s government,” Luxon said.

“Six years, not one has improved for Māori or for non-Māori.”

While sweeping in nature, Luxon’s claim did not get a direct response from Hipkins.

Luxon repeated a similar line later in the debate.

“Gone backwards. Chris, under your government, every single health outcome for Māori or non-Māori [has gone backwards]. You can’t have that.”

Hipkins did push back on this occasion, citing the ongoing reduction in rates of smoking.

Luxon’s claim was far from true — there are a number of areas where health outcomes for Māori and non-Māori have improved while Labour has been in charge.

But it is perhaps understandable that Hipkins was not quick to correct Luxon because the data — even though it’s better in many respects — is still grim. Maybe Hipkins did not wish to dwell on this.

Improved health outcomes
There are a number of health outcomes where, for Māori, statistics have improved.

Perhaps Labour’s biggest boast is their track record on bringing down lung cancer and smoking rates for Māori.

Lung cancer is the second leading cause of death for Māori in Aotearoa. But according to the Ministry of Health, rates of lung disease for Māori have come down.

In 2017, the rate per 100,000 people was 79.9 for Māori. By 2019, it was down to 68.4. This also aligns with smoking rates among Māori dropping.

Pre-colonisation, Māori did not smoke. However, when tobacco was introduced to Aotearoa in the 18th century that quickly changed.

Smoking has been particularly harmful for Māori who have higher smoking rates than non-Māori and experience greater rates of death and tobacco-related illness.

In 2017/18, the smoking rate for Māori adults was 35.3 percent. By 2021/22, it was down to 20.9 percent (approximately 127,000 people).

Rates were falling under National but they have continued to drop under Labour, which has rolled out a number of initiatives in an effort to reduce nation-wide smoking rates.

As part of the Smokefree 2025 Action Plan, historic and world-leading legislation mandated an annually rising smoking age that will mean that anyone born on or after 1 January, 2009, will never be able to purchase tobacco products.

Other cancers
Overall, cancer registrations rates among Māori fell from 416 per 100,000 people in 2017 to 405.7 in 2019.

Breast cancer registration rates for Māori women fell from 140.7 per 100,000 people in 2010 to 122.5 per 100,000 in 2019. Prostate cancer registration rates for Māori fell from 105.5 for Māori in 2017 to 103.5 in 2019.

For non-Māori, overall cancer registration rates increased slightly from 323.2 (2017) to 332.4 (2019).

Life expectancy
The life expectancy gap between Māori and non-Māori may be the most telling indicator of all when it comes to inequities.

According to the latest available data from 2019, life expectancy at birth for Māori men in 2017-2019 was 73.4 years, up 3.1 years from 2005-2007 data.

The life expectancy for non-Māori men is 80.9 years. For Māori women, it was 77.1 years, up 2 years from 2005-2007. Non-Māori women are expected to live to 84.4 years.

While Māori life expectancy has increased over time, the gap to non-Māori persists.

At the current rate of progress it will be more than a century before Māori and non-Māori have equal life expectancy, a study by the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists found in 2021.

Child immunisation
In the debate, after Hipkins raised smoking as an area of improvement, Luxon said child immunisation was a concern. On this, he was correct.

Over the past six years, child immunisation rates have steadily fallen.

In 2017, 86.2 percent of eligible Māori five year olds had completed all of their age-appropriate immunisations. As of last year, the rate had shrunk to only 71.8 percent. That is an alarming 16 point drop in the period Labour has been in power.

In April of this year a report commissioned by Te Whatu Ora’s Immunisation Taskforce found that immunisation failed to achieve “adequate on-time immunisation rates in young tamariki” and to immunise Māori, meaning those who were most susceptible to “vaccine-preventable disease” had the lowest immunisation coverage.

The report highlighted the worst rate in the country — just 34 percent of Māori children in South Auckland were fully vaccinated. It attributed part of the problem to vaccinators being diverted to the country’s covid-19 pandemic response.

“This caused childhood immunisation rates to plummet. These rates are now the lowest they have ever been and ethnic disparities have further expanded,” it said.

The report outlined 54 recommendations covering funding, delivery, technology, communications and governance across the programme.

In the debate, Hipkins suggested the anti-vaccine movement was part of the problem, which he sought to link with National.

National has proposed an immunisation incentive payment scheme. The plan would see GP clinics paid a lump sum for achieving immunisation targets, including full immunisation for two-year-olds, MMR vaccines for ages 1-17, and influenza vaccines for ages 65+.

The clinics would have to either achieve 95 percent coverage for their childhood patients, and 75 percent for the flu shots, or achieve a five percentage point increase for each of those target groups, by 30 June 2024 to receive the payment.

Labour’s Dr Ayesha Verrall said a similar scheme already existed.

Labour has also failed to halt type 2 diabetes, the country’s biggest and fastest growing health condition.

Ministry of Health figures show that in 2021 there were 302,778 people with diabetes, predominantly type 2. Since the Labour government came into power in 2017, the estimated rates of the number of Māori with diabetes per 1000 has risen from 66.4 to 70.1 in 2021.

The rates for non-Māori have also climbed from 27.8 in 2017 to 30.1 in 2021. It is also important to note that the rate of diabetes in Aotearoa has been steadily rising over the past 50 years.

Type 2 diabetes can also lead to devastating health conditions and complications, including heart failure, kidney failure, strokes and limb amputation.

According to Ministry of Health data obtained by RNZ under the Official Information Act, since 2011 there has been a 39 percent increase in diabetic limb amputations across the whole population.

For Māori, the number has more than doubled in the past decade from 130 in 2011 to 211 in 2021. Under Labour, the number of Māori diabetic limb amputations rose by 15 percent.

Māori are still 2.8 times more likely to have renal failure, another complication of diabetes.

Mental health
According to Te Whatu Ora, the rate of suspected suicide per 100,000 Māori population in 2021/22 was 16.1. This is not a statistically significant change from the average of the past 13 years.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

National Party leader Christopher Luxon made claims about health outcomes that were clearly false. Why was he left unchallenged?

In the TVNZ leaders’ debate last night, Luxon and Labour’s Chris Hipkins had a testy exchange over Māori healthcare.

Hipkins held firm on the creation of a Māori Health Authority, established last year, arguing strongly that the persistent gaps in health outcomes and care justified it.

Luxon was equally clear in opposition to it. He framed his critique of the authority around an alleged complete lack of progress on Māori health outcomes. He was very specific.

“Every single health outcome has gone backwards under Chris’s government,” Luxon said.

“Six years, not one has improved for Māori or for non-Māori.”

While sweeping in nature, Luxon’s claim did not get a direct response from Hipkins.

Luxon repeated a similar line later in the debate.

“Gone backwards. Chris, under your government, every single health outcome for Māori or non-Māori [has gone backwards]. You can’t have that.”

Hipkins did push back on this occasion, citing the ongoing reduction in rates of smoking.

Luxon’s claim was far from true — there are a number of areas where health outcomes for Māori and non-Māori have improved while Labour has been in charge.

But it is perhaps understandable that Hipkins was not quick to correct Luxon because the data — even though it’s better in many respects — is still grim. Maybe Hipkins did not wish to dwell on this.

Improved health outcomes
There are a number of health outcomes where, for Māori, statistics have improved.

Perhaps Labour’s biggest boast is their track record on bringing down lung cancer and smoking rates for Māori.

Lung cancer is the second leading cause of death for Māori in Aotearoa. But according to the Ministry of Health, rates of lung disease for Māori have come down.

In 2017, the rate per 100,000 people was 79.9 for Māori. By 2019, it was down to 68.4. This also aligns with smoking rates among Māori dropping.

Pre-colonisation, Māori did not smoke. However, when tobacco was introduced to Aotearoa in the 18th century that quickly changed.

Smoking has been particularly harmful for Māori who have higher smoking rates than non-Māori and experience greater rates of death and tobacco-related illness.

In 2017/18, the smoking rate for Māori adults was 35.3 percent. By 2021/22, it was down to 20.9 percent (approximately 127,000 people).

Rates were falling under National but they have continued to drop under Labour, which has rolled out a number of initiatives in an effort to reduce nation-wide smoking rates.

As part of the Smokefree 2025 Action Plan, historic and world-leading legislation mandated an annually rising smoking age that will mean that anyone born on or after 1 January, 2009, will never be able to purchase tobacco products.

Other cancers
Overall, cancer registrations rates among Māori fell from 416 per 100,000 people in 2017 to 405.7 in 2019.

Breast cancer registration rates for Māori women fell from 140.7 per 100,000 people in 2010 to 122.5 per 100,000 in 2019. Prostate cancer registration rates for Māori fell from 105.5 for Māori in 2017 to 103.5 in 2019.

For non-Māori, overall cancer registration rates increased slightly from 323.2 (2017) to 332.4 (2019).

Life expectancy
The life expectancy gap between Māori and non-Māori may be the most telling indicator of all when it comes to inequities.

According to the latest available data from 2019, life expectancy at birth for Māori men in 2017-2019 was 73.4 years, up 3.1 years from 2005-2007 data.

The life expectancy for non-Māori men is 80.9 years. For Māori women, it was 77.1 years, up 2 years from 2005-2007. Non-Māori women are expected to live to 84.4 years.

While Māori life expectancy has increased over time, the gap to non-Māori persists.

At the current rate of progress it will be more than a century before Māori and non-Māori have equal life expectancy, a study by the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists found in 2021.

Child immunisation
In the debate, after Hipkins raised smoking as an area of improvement, Luxon said child immunisation was a concern. On this, he was correct.

Over the past six years, child immunisation rates have steadily fallen.

In 2017, 86.2 percent of eligible Māori five year olds had completed all of their age-appropriate immunisations. As of last year, the rate had shrunk to only 71.8 percent. That is an alarming 16 point drop in the period Labour has been in power.

In April of this year a report commissioned by Te Whatu Ora’s Immunisation Taskforce found that immunisation failed to achieve “adequate on-time immunisation rates in young tamariki” and to immunise Māori, meaning those who were most susceptible to “vaccine-preventable disease” had the lowest immunisation coverage.

The report highlighted the worst rate in the country — just 34 percent of Māori children in South Auckland were fully vaccinated. It attributed part of the problem to vaccinators being diverted to the country’s covid-19 pandemic response.

“This caused childhood immunisation rates to plummet. These rates are now the lowest they have ever been and ethnic disparities have further expanded,” it said.

The report outlined 54 recommendations covering funding, delivery, technology, communications and governance across the programme.

In the debate, Hipkins suggested the anti-vaccine movement was part of the problem, which he sought to link with National.

National has proposed an immunisation incentive payment scheme. The plan would see GP clinics paid a lump sum for achieving immunisation targets, including full immunisation for two-year-olds, MMR vaccines for ages 1-17, and influenza vaccines for ages 65+.

The clinics would have to either achieve 95 percent coverage for their childhood patients, and 75 percent for the flu shots, or achieve a five percentage point increase for each of those target groups, by 30 June 2024 to receive the payment.

Labour’s Dr Ayesha Verrall said a similar scheme already existed.

Labour has also failed to halt type 2 diabetes, the country’s biggest and fastest growing health condition.

Ministry of Health figures show that in 2021 there were 302,778 people with diabetes, predominantly type 2. Since the Labour government came into power in 2017, the estimated rates of the number of Māori with diabetes per 1000 has risen from 66.4 to 70.1 in 2021.

The rates for non-Māori have also climbed from 27.8 in 2017 to 30.1 in 2021. It is also important to note that the rate of diabetes in Aotearoa has been steadily rising over the past 50 years.

Type 2 diabetes can also lead to devastating health conditions and complications, including heart failure, kidney failure, strokes and limb amputation.

According to Ministry of Health data obtained by RNZ under the Official Information Act, since 2011 there has been a 39 percent increase in diabetic limb amputations across the whole population.

For Māori, the number has more than doubled in the past decade from 130 in 2011 to 211 in 2021. Under Labour, the number of Māori diabetic limb amputations rose by 15 percent.

Māori are still 2.8 times more likely to have renal failure, another complication of diabetes.

Mental health
According to Te Whatu Ora, the rate of suspected suicide per 100,000 Māori population in 2021/22 was 16.1. This is not a statistically significant change from the average of the past 13 years.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

South Auckland’s poor turnout for the 2018 Aotearoa New Zealand national census could have cost the region $130 million in health funding.

And, according to an expert, that cash could have helped tackle the area’s battles with diabetes and obesity.

Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand said the defunct Counties Manukau District Health Board lost $130m in health funding in its last four years due to the low turnout in the area during the 2018 census.

Information from the five-yearly stocktake helps determine how billions of dollars in government spending is allocated across health, education, transport, infrastructure and other services.

Counties Manukau has more people with diabetes than any other health region in the country.

Te Whatu Ora (Counties Manukau) Director of Population Health Gary Jackson said additional money would help fund programmes to battle two issues affecting many people in the region.

He said there were 52,000 diabetics in Counties Manukau and that figure was growing by 2000 people a year. It is also home to 19 percent of all New Zealanders in the most extreme BMI group.

Only 71 percent response
Figures released by Stats NZ this week show only 71 percent of people in South Auckland have so far completed the census in 2023, compared to 83 percent nationwide.

Te Whatu Ora Chief Financial Officer Rosalie Percival said getting people to provide their details was vital to ensure areas like Counties Manukau got the healthcare services they needed.

“Health providers know about the people who turn up at their door needing care — but they have no other way of knowing about the presence of people who haven’t recently needed to use the health system,” she said.

“The data gained from the census helps to inform important decisions about planning for the needs of local areas and subsequently healthcare spending.”

However, Buttabean Motivation (BBM) founder Dave Letele said getting people to complete the census was not easy.

Letele, who is potentially standing for Te Pāti Māori this year, was an ambassador for Census 2023 and was involved in a social media campaign which kicked off late last year to get more people to take part.

“There’s a massive distrust between our people and the government and that’s what we need to overcome,” Letele said.

Wary about personal information
He said as a result a lot of people were wary about sharing their personal information with authorities.

“But it’s not just something you can throw money at to fix it.”

Deputy Government Statistician and deputy chief executive for census and collection operations Simon Mason confirmed the turnout at the last census in 2018 was poor in Counties Manukau.

“That is why it is critically important that people complete the census — so their communities are counted . . .”

Mason said the 2023 event was designed to address barriers to participation, including having more collectors and alternate formats for people to complete it and support a wider range of people.

A spokesperson for Stats NZ said it would still have field teams collecting people’s responses until May 3 and will be running census support events until June 4.

Pacific Media Watch reports that the Counties Manukau health population is ethnically diverse with the largest Pacific population and second largest Māori popukation of any New Zealand health board.

In the 2018 census, 16 percent of the population served by CM Health identified as Māori, 22 percent as Pacific, 28 percent as Asian and 34 percent as NZ European/other groups.

Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air. It is published by Asia Pacific Report in collaboration.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Sri Krishnamurthi reflects in this special report on what life is really like trying to live and cope with the effects of a stroke for three years.

Those were the most horrifying days of my life. It’s only now that I find the courage to write about my trials and tribulations.

November 2, 2016, travelling from Chennai to Bangalore, India, in the evening, that was when I suffered a stroke. There aren’t any happy memories of that day and subsequent days, weeks and months.

I have never owned the stroke, by calling it MY stroke … and never will. It was just an unfortunate set of circumstances that led to it. Like being a type 2 diabetic, having high blood pressure – not really understanding that your blood pressure (BP) should be 120  systolic/over 80 diastolic.

I would urge everyone, young and old, to get your BP checked at your nearest pharmacy.

At first my brother and mum thought I had a “hypo” (low on sugar) being a diabetic and soon they realised it wasn’t!

Many have since asked me to describe what it felt like to have a stroke. For me, it was terrifying – I couldn’t speak without slurring, the arm gave way, the right side of my face fell away, all of this followed a distinct humming sound in my ear before I felt my body tighten in a vice-like cramp. (The experience isn’t the same for all us)

Not knowing your own mind is very confusing … they say we lose 2 million brain cells or neurons every minute … but, what I know is that when the brain has a constricted blood flow to it, every part of you dies.

Ischemic stroke
I had an Ischemic stroke, that occurs when the arteries to your brain become narrowed or blocked, causing severely reduced blood flow (ischemia). The most common ischemic strokes include: Thrombotic stroke. A thrombotic stroke occurs when a blood clot (thrombus) forms in one of the arteries that supply blood to your brain. (Definition thanks to Google). It affects the right side of your body.

There is no such thing as a “mild” stroke, a stroke is a stoke – the degree of debilitation is devastating for sufferers of a stroke. There are no words to describe it.

The worst aspect of the condition is your brain doesn’t know whether you are Arthur or Martha, which day of the week it is and simple actions like counting backwards from 10 cannot be comprehended.

It is feeling of complete disorientation and helplessness. You are fatigued very quickly, your emotions are very raw and surface quickly, tears aren’t very far away … and the frustration of being half the man you once were wells up into utter depression.

Then there is the loneliness that creeps in on you, barring a handful of your very best friends … the rest choose to become acquaintances on social media … they have lives and families that MUST and SHOULD come first.

I must pay tribute to my mum, brothers, sister and my dear brother-in-law for doing all they could to ease me back into the world of the living.

And, give credit where it belongs, I’ve been married twice – both times unsuccessfully – and my partner for over 12 years no longer wants anything to do with me. But there is my platonic flatmate, a beautiful soul and a friend for more than 20 years who took me out of “Homestay”- a hostel in Manukau that I moved into within a month of returning from India and I am eternally grateful to her for being there.

Homestay cooking
Homestay is where I cooked my first meal – pasta, having had cooking as part of my rehabilitation.

The first dish that I cooked to prove I could live and operate independently was a dish of prawns at my sister’s home where I stayed for a month while trying to decipher who I was.

Then there was social welfare, I am grateful to WINZ for being there, but there are many faults in the system. The first time I turned up, without any forms filled. How do you manually fill in forms when your writing hand doesn’t work?…And your case worker looks at you with disdain…There can few more humiliating instances for the disabled.

I was sent away with the forms to fill – and that is one of many failings for the disabled that WINZ can and should help with because, after struggling with them I managed with great difficulty to fill them in anyway. One way that WINZ can help the disabled is to hire people to help you or the uneducated to fill out forms.

I can openly say WINZ workers are the most abused and over-worked public servants and to their credit they never complain and are not given due recognition for the work they do. However, they are as caring and compassionate as the system allows them to be.

A broken body and mind, but not a shattered spirit. From walking with a crutch to the sheer joy of walking unaided to the point of being told off by a very angry woman for using the disabled toilet at a restaurant.

“You’re not disabled,” I recall her shrieking to me. I replied, “doesn’t a stroke count?” She said, in a disbelieving and accusatory tone, “Well, you don’t look it….” Her voice trailed.

Grateful thoughts
I guess I should be grateful for small thoughts like hers to think me able bodied. In a bizarre way, we feel entitled to use the disabled toilets – but not for a tryst, a la All Black Aaron Smith!

My first attempt at HOBBLING.

What was I going to do for a living? The only industry I knew was the media, and I had get my brain working … words that previously flowed in torrents had slowed to a trickle, often those words were there but pulling them out was a near impossibility.

You learn new tricks when you have a stroke – words associated with images, or words through the process of elimination worked for me. And then there was the trusted old Google when you couldn’t be bothered.

You learn to use bungee shoelaces or Velcro shoes because tying shoelaces just won’t happen. The right arm is bung and you are back to typing with two fingers – as I’m doing now. At the same time, technology is your biggest ally.

As is Vibra-Train, a unique training system that is great for circulation and building up wasted muscle structure. It has a studio in Auckland that is free for the disabled, for cerebral palsy (CP) and stroke survivors alike. And the genius behind it all is Lloyd Shaw who has built his own machines.

Then there is social media which gets your brain working as you post up your pictures and little quips following others, or commenting. And curating content can be very cathartic in your rehabilitation. You have to learn how to deal with trolls … or just mean and nasty vindictive people.

‘Done on computers’
I made a very conscious and curious decision to return to university and do a Postgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies at Auckland University of Technology (AUT). I distinctly remember talking to a senior lecturer, Gudrun Frommerhz: “But I can’t take notes because my writing sucks”.

She replied, encouragingly: “You don’t have to write, everything you do is done on computers.”

However, the self doubt creeps in like a nagging negative presence: “Can I manage to do this?”

Apprehensive at AUT, not knowing whether I could handle studies, April 2017

In July 2017, I began my two-year sojourn at AUT doing the postgraduate diploma … and so began my journey towards a normal and somewhat full life.

So, when people and acquaintances ask me these days, “how are you doing?” my reply is always: “As good as I can be”.

The two wonderful years at university is another story – for another day.

Sri Krishnamurthi graduated with a Postgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies (Digital Media) in 2019. He has been a special projects writer for the Pacific Media Centre since he joined AUT and is this year the PMC Pacific Media Watch freedom project contributing editor. Before his stroke, he had a career in sports journalism for the NZ Press Association and in communication management roles, and gained an MBA (Massey University). The article was first published on Sri’s personal blog and is republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

ANALYSIS: By Dr Crosbie Walsh

Nauru hosts the Pacific Islands Forum — whose membership includes Australia, New Zealand and 16 Pacific Islands nations — from today until Wednesday when lofty ideas may help soften present realities.

The island, 56km south of the Equator and thousands of kilometres from anywhere else, is 21 km in size and its population is 11,000, 40 percent of whom have type 2 diabetes, 90 percent are unemployed and 94 percent obese – the highest rate in the world.

The island’s recent history is one of rags to riches and rags again.

READ MORE: Nauru faces media, security pressure ahead of Pacific Islands Forum

For most of the past century millions of tonnes of phosphate from bird droppings were mined and exported as fertiliser to Australia and New Zealand, leaving much of the area barren.

In 1970, the British Phosphate Commission handed over control to the Nauru government. Mining increased, briefly making Nauru the second most wealthy nation on earth based on GDP per capita, second only to the United Arab Emirates.

-Partners-

Most of the phosphate was extracted through strip mining which leaves the earth largely barren, infertile, and unable to sustain plant life.

Currently, about 90 percent of the island is covered in jagged and exposed heaps of petrified coral, which is unsuitable for both building and agriculture. Additionally, runoff from mining sites has left the water in and around Nauru severely contaminated.

About 90 percent of Nauru is covered in jagged and exposed heaps of petrified coral … unsuitable for both building and agriculture. Image: CWB

Marine pollution
Researchers estimate that approximately 40 percent of the marine life has been lost due to this pollution. Additionally, the only remaining phosphate on the island would not produce a profit if mined.

In 1989, Nauru took Australia to the International Court of Justice over its actions during its administration of Nauru, and particularly its failure to remedy the environmental damage caused by phosphate mining.

An out-of-court settlement rehabilitated some of the mined-out areas. By 2000 no marketable phosphate remained.

An out-of-court settlement rehabilitated some of the mined-out areas on Nauru. By 2000 no marketable phosphate remained. Image: CWB

In 1993, the government won a legal case against Australia for its mismanagement. The reparations have been used for restoration projects, one of which is a detention centre for more than 1000 refugees seeking asylum in Australia.

Some have called Nauru an Australian “client state.”

Since then, the political and economic situation has worsened. The phosphate trust fund was mismanaged (thanks largely to the influence of a modern beachcomber) and most of its assets lost.

Corruption is reported as rampant. Searching desperately for an income, government
briefly facilitated and condoned money laundering, and now relies heavily on aid and income from the Australian refugee detention centre where conditions have been reported as “akin to torture”.

Disturbing report
This BBC report on the effects on refugee children is especially disturbing.

Both governments have kept the injustices perpetrated against these refugees quiet by limiting access to the island.

A media visa costs $8000, taking pictures inside the detention centre is forbidden; so is carrying a smart phone with a camera.

In 2015, Australia passed the Australian Border Force Act, which makes speaking out about the conditions inside its camps on Nauru, and Manus in PNG, punishable by a two-year prison sentence.

It will be interesting to see how both governments, and other members of the Pacific Islands Forum, including New Zealand that benefited greatly from Nauru phosphates, handle questions over the next two days — and whether the NGOs present ask the right ones.

Dr Croz Walsh is a retired development studies professor at the University of the South Pacific. In his blog, he comments on New Zealand, Fiji, and Pacific Islands issues of political and social interest.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The latest life expectancy world rankings show Fiji has the highest death rate from diabetes in the world with 188 of 100,000 fatalities being attributed to the disease.

The head of Diabetes Fiji says the ranking highlights the magnitude of the problem and the need for a more proactive approach.

Jenny Meyer reports:

LISTEN TO DATELINE

Transcript
Project manager Viliame Qio says people are shying away from medical attention and treatment out of denial and so when they do come forward they have more severe complications from their illness.

He says there needs to be more community education about diabetes and many people turn to traditional healers for help first, which also delays effective treatment.

“We have three amputations that take place in a day in the major hospitals and the main reason is the people are presenting late, they come very late, they are not coming early. So we want to get people to be educated that they have to seek medical attention first before they resort to other traditional methods or herbal methods.”

Viliame Qio says diabetes is the leading cause of disability in Fiji and people need to heed the public health messages about poor eating habits and sedentary lifestyles.

Dr Jone Hawera is a Fijian surgeon and says the diabetes crisis is becoming more widespread now affecting people in rural areas and at younger ages.

‘Bottom of the cliff’
“Just last week we amputated half a foot of a 30-year-old i-Taukei female. It’s not only the rate that’s increasing it’s also the age group that’s involved with the amputations. And that means we have a big disabled and non productive population. The economic impacts that’s going to make for us is huge.”

Dr Hawera says he is part of a group of frustrated, demoralised, under-resourced health personnel working at the bottom of the cliff trying to deal with the ongoing diabetes crisis.

He says there are many factors affecting the rate of diabetes including issues like food security and climate change and policy makers must do more to turn the crisis around.

He says diabetes is a physical manifestation of social issues and preventative policies need to address these.

“It’s preventable and that’s the hope that we continue to have, we know that it’s preventable. A lot of these deaths are preventable. A lot of these complications like amputations are preventable. We are trying to improve our education and our awareness, making people really understand what diabetes is and what causes it and the many ways they can prevent complications once they have it.”

Dr Hawera says he would like to see diabetes education get to a point in Fiji where people are prevented from getting the disease in the first place.

Early detection vital
Viliame Qio says both education and early detection are vital to dealing with the crisis.

“The very important thing is that you get screened and secondly that you adopt a healthy lifestyle. Especially the eating habits.

“Our diet has been transitioning from healthy food to very fast food and with this fast food comes a sedentary lifestyle. We need people to be very health cautious, to be mindful of what they eat and be physically active.”

Fiji’s Ministry of Health says one in three Fijians has diabetes and there is a higher incidence in Fijians of Indian descent.

It encourages regular health checkups and says symptoms include frequent urination, feeling thirsty and hungry, fatigue, blurry vision and pain in the hands and feet.

This RNZ Pacific item is part of the content sharing arrangement with the Pacific Media Centre.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Pacific Media Centre director Professor David Robie blasted some of the global coverage of the alleged Chinese military base plans for Vanuatu, describing it as speculative and “scaremongering”.

He praised the Vanuatu Daily Post for giving the other side of the story and media director Dan McGarry for his in-depth “baseless rumours” article published in both The Guardian Australia and the Post.

Radio 95bFM’s Reuben McLaren talked to Dr Robie on the PMC’s weekly Southern Cross show.

Dr Robie also talked about Nauru abolishing its Appeal Court in Australia, a huge diabetes health bill blowout in Fiji, and the “mourning” in Suva over Fiji’s shock 14-0 loss to New Zealand in the Commonwealth Games sevens gold medal final.

The diabetes story was revealed by a final-year Wansolwara student journalist, Adi Ana Civavonovono, of the University of the South Pacific.

PMC’s Southern Cross on 95bFM

Southern Cross on PMC’s Soundcloud

Listen to Southern Cross:

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Adi Ana Civavonovono in Suva

The estimated financial cost and economic burden of diabetes in Fiji reached a staggering $124 million (NZ$84 million) in 2014 with health experts sounding an urgent need for people to relook at their lifestyles and eating habits.

Dr Jone Hawea, a medical doctor and codirector of the Foundation for Rural Integrated Enterprise and Development, did not mince words when he told participants at the Media and Diabetes Advocacy Workshop in Suva last week about the reality of the disease he tagged as an “ongoing disaster”.

According to Dr Hawea, the total yearly financial cost of diabetes in Fiji in 2014 took into account factors such as the total productivity cost for patients and carers and excluded estimates such as private health care costs, out of pocket expenditures and other tangible indirect costs which were difficult to obtain.

“So you can imagine, the true financial cost is therefore very likely to be higher, a high estimate of about $180.3m,” he said at the Holiday Inn.

“Diabetes has the single highest impact on productivity of all non-communicable diseases in Fiji.”

He said diabetes imposed a huge financial and non-financial burden on Fiji’s economy, adding the latter amounted to more than 56,000 years of life lost because of ill-health, disability or premature death.

-Partners-

“Diabetes is largely preventable, so a large portion of these enormous and unnecessary costs can be averted,” Dr Hawea said.

Tangible solutions
While opening the workshop, Assistant Minister for Health Alex O’Connor said the gathering of media professionals and partners in health and wellness programmes was a platform to find tangible solutions to combat this major health issue.

“About 15 percent of Fiji’s adult population have diabetes and another 15 percent have impaired fasting glucose – these are people who have high blood sugar and are at risk of being diagnosed with diabetes,” O’Connor said.

Journalists from print and broadcast media as well as student journalists from the University of the South Pacific, civil society and non-governmental organisations, and the Fiji National University were part of the one-day event, which was organised by Diabetes Fiji in conjunction with the Ministry of Health.

Adi Ana Civavonovono is a final year journalism student at the University of the South Pacific reporting for Wansolwara News.

USP Journalism Programme’s final year student Adi Ana Civavonovono interviews Fiji’s Assistant Minister for Health and Medical Services Alex O’Connor at the Holiday Inn in Suva. Image: Wansolwara News

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz