Govt needs courage to tackle health
‘‘DON’T miss out on the fun!’’ began the Southern Labour flyer for a “Social Function” today, celebrating “Conference 2021”, emailed to a friend of Civis.
Between reddish bands it shows some of the food to be served: small heaps of caviar (and some greenery), on what looks like cottage cheese, flanked by pink slices of smoked salmon, on bread.
Caviar? At a Labour Party function? While lowpaid workers struggle to house and feed their families, even with more than one job, and the
Labour Government, like its Labourled predecessor which commissioned the work of the Welfare Working Group, has, so far, blithely disregarded the Working Group’s recommendations regarding benefit levels? To say the least, it’s a bad look.
Perhaps the salmon’s pink colour is significant, symbolising the wishywashy attitude of the present Labour Government (in contrast, see Chris Trotter’s 30.4.21 ODT column, describing the unflinching drive of those of the 1930s led by Michael Joseph Savage), so sensitive to the assumed selfishness of the “centreright” voter, on whom it seems to believe it depends, that it’s painted itself into a revenue corner, ruling out higher taxes apart from the minimalist increase for high earners with which the party last went to the polls.
The present and previous governments have managed the Covid19 pandemic well, “inventing the plane while flying it”. But many other problems facing New Zealand have been pushed into the background under the pressures of the pandemic. They haven’t gone away, though, and require similar determined action.
The one nonCovid field where the Government seems to be prepared to act decisively, beyond the recommendations of the advisory group it set up, is health.
Given the “postcode care” anomalies that the present multiplicity of district health boards has engendered, and the tendency of almost all DHBs to act as “Hospital Boards in drag”, treating primary care, the most vital part of the public health system, with contempt, the abolition of DHBs seems a reasonable move.
That is, providing that the proposed central authorities are responsive to local needs (the proposed Maori Health Authority, at least, is likely to be). But that won’t be enough.
The issue of the ODT which contained Chris Trotter’s remarks about the Savageled Labour governments also included (disregarding Covid19 matters) at least four articles noting unmet health needs: two national and two in the Southern DHB area.
Ambulance services need to be properly funded (as do hospice services), rather than depending on fees and donations.
There’s a need, since the decriminalisation of abortion, for training of the primary care workforce, and wider funding of drugs, to enable better and more equitable access to safe abortions through primary care.
The SDHB still hasn’t decided where Central Otago primary birthing units will be.
And researchers have pointed out that the SDHB introduced the national bowel cancer screening programme to Otago and Southland before it was able to perform the necessary extra colonoscopies without refusing them for patients with warning symptoms of cancer, so that “some of these patients suffered worse clinical outcomes” (death, perhaps?).
These examples, and huge DHB deficits, reflect over a decade of chronic underfunding of health services, which requires substantial, longterm investment, including in primary care, to correct.
But health depends on more than Vote Health. Warm, dry, uncrowded housing, clean water and safe drainage, good nutrition, and eliminating poverty are essential.
The Government needs courage to address these imperatives (not to mention education and other needs).
It should admit its “no further taxes” promise was unsustainable, tax wealth fairly, and increase benefits adequately, and dramatically increase “state house” construction. It should not be cowed by big business regarding action (sugar taxes, junk food advertising restriction) to improve nutrition (needed, as Prof Jim Mann repeatedly warns, to avert a type 2 diabetes tsunami) and to reduce alcohol harm (minimum prices, restricted sales).
Grant Robertson will present the Budget this month. It’s time for red courage from Labour, not pink timidity.