Only structural change will fix NZ’s glaring health equity gap – what voters should know
Māori and Pacific people carry a disproportionate burden of preventable disease. Concerned voters should look beyond parties’ headline pledges on health.
The glaring health equity gap in New Zealand demands structural change, according to election experts. Around 200,000 people in the country, half of them Māori, have no GP. The 2024-25 New Zealand Health Survey found that one in seven adults (14.9%) reported not visiting a GP due to cost, with Pacific adults (25.1%) and Māori (18.7%) experiencing higher rates of non-attendance.
Māori and Pacific communities bear the heaviest burden of preventable disease. They are more likely to develop chronic illnesses earlier in life, suffer from multiple preventable conditions simultaneously, and die years sooner than other New Zealanders. This disparity is not due to genetics or individual choices, but long-standing structural inequalities affecting income, housing, education, food access, and healthcare.
Recent data reveals a stark disparity in life expectancy: Māori males can expect to live 73.7 years, Māori females 78.0 years, compared to 81.1 and 84.3 years for "European and other" ethnicities. Pacific peoples experience a five-to-six-year longevity deficit. The root cause is the clustering of multiple preventable risks, including tobacco use (Māori smoking rate at 15.0%), obesity (69.5% for Pacific adults and 46.9% for Māori, compared to 33.5% for European/other adults), and diabetes (12.5% for Pacific peoples and 7.0% for Māori, compared to 5.4% for European/other populations).
Current policies are exacerbating the problem. The revised primary care funding formula removed ethnicity as an indicator, despite it being an independent predictor of health need. The National-led coalition government also reversed several measures introduced as part of New Zealand’s Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 strategy, which disproportionately affects Māori.
Additionally, the disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora (Māori Health Authority) without an alternative plan raises concerns about the health system’s capacity to address avoidable Māori health inequities.
Written by urgent.news from The Conversation AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
