A multifaceted team led by Massey’s Dr Callum Rees, Utiku Potaka of Ngāti Hauiti and Grant Huwyler of Ngāti Apa has been awarded $250,000 in funding from the Te Pūnaha Hihiko: Vision Mātauranga Capability Fund.
The repeal of smoke-free legislation has undone decades of work to reduce inequities in Māori health outcomes, writes Amohia Boulton
In Aotearoa (New Zealand), a country of just over five million people,1 13 people die every day because of smoking or second hand smoke exposure.2 That’s roughly 5000 people a year. For Māori, the Indigenous people of Aotearoa, the effects of smoking are felt even more profoundly. Data from 2020-21 show that almost 20% of all Māori,3 and 26% of Māori adults, smoked.4 Although these numbers are lower than they have been in previous decades, Māori adult smoking rates are still almost three times higher than the rates for adults of European descent,4 putting Māori at greater risk of morbidity and death from cancer, respiratory and cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or a combination of these.567
In addition to generally bearing a greater burden of disease and ill health than non-Māori people of Aotearoa,89 Māori are more likely to have multimorbid
WHANGANUI , 28 April 2023: Ground-breaking cancer research aimed at improving health outcomes for Māori communities has received a major boost with the latest funding award from Te Kāhui Matepukupuku o Aotearoa (the Cancer Society of New Zealand) .