Inquiry into Ma¯ori health

An announcement from the Ma¯ ori Affairs Select Committee that it is launching an inquiry into Ma¯ ori health is bittersweet news for a Manawatu¯ family who have rallied for better access to drug funding.

The select committee has announced it is launching an inquiry into the health system and its effects on Ma¯ ori.

Advanced breast cancer sufferer Wiki Mulholland and her husband Malcolm Mulholland, from Palmerston North, have been fighting for better access to more advanced drugs and a review of the Government’s drug funding agency, Pharmac.

Malcolm Mulholland said he understood the inquiry would look at Pharmac’s funding of drugs.

He said although the announcement of the inquiry was great, the day was tinged with sadness thinking of the 38 women who had lost their lives since Christmas due to advanced breast cancer. ‘‘They have gone to their graves not knowing about the Government inquiry into Pharmac, so I’ve been thinking about them.’’

He believed there needed to be a separate focus on Ma¯ ori health, as well as an inquiry looking just at Pharmac.

A specific look at Ma¯ ori health was needed because Ma¯ori constituted 27 per cent of incidences of cancer and the total cancer mortality rate for Ma¯ori was 1.5 times higher than nonma¯ ori, he said.

About 100 Ma¯ori women have advanced breast cancer and each year an extra 30 to 40 women were diagnosed, with the Ma¯ori advanced breast cancer survival rate worse than for non-ma¯ ori and the five-year survival rate considerably worse.

Malcolm Mulholland said for Ma¯ ori the rate of avoidable cancer deaths was higher than for nonma¯ori and numerous experts agreed that Ma¯ori suffered more greatly with advanced cancers, as they were less likely to be able to access private funding for the medicine they required.

New Zealand Maori Council executive director Matthew Tukaki said it was time to throw open the doors of the whare and let in the truth about Ma¯ ori health.