Health and healthcare in New Zealand

Health and healthcare in New Zealand 2012-2014 11 Running Head: Health and healthcare in New Zealand Health and healthcare in the context of Aotea Lungora New Zealand Health and healthcare in the context of Aotearoa New Zealand The health status of the Indigenous population across the world differs according to their historical, social and political state of affairs. The gap stuck between the Mori and non-Mori males is narrow because the health of the Mori has improved from past four years but still

Running Head: Health and healthcare in New Zealand
Health and healthcare in the context of Aoteaora New Zealand

Health and healthcare in New Zealand 1
Health and healthcare in the context of Aotearoa New Zealand
The health status of the Indigenous population across the world differs according to their
historical, social and political state of affairs. The disparities between the Maoris and non-Maoris
in health are part of the history of New Zealand. Morbidity and mortality are important aspects
of health and healthcare of any country. Morbidity rate is an assessment of the frequency of an
event making it known or occurring in a defined population. (Ardagh, Richardson, Robinson,
Than, Gee, Henderson ... & Deely, 2012). It can be said that morbidity rate is a broad statistic
that related to the likelihood of developing or contracting a certain illness or event. In simple
words, it is a rate that shows the incidence diseases across the population in New Zealand per
year. The mortality rate is the number of deaths during a particular period of time among a
particular type or group of people. These two aspects are linked with the life expectancy of New
Zealand (Dahlen, Tracy, Tracy, Bisits, Brown & Thornton, 2014).
Differences in morbidity and mortality between Māori and non-Māori males and
females
The differences are present in morbidity and mortality between Māori and non-Māori males and
females. The gap stuck between the Māori and non-Māori males and females are narrow because
the health of the Māori has improvement from past four years but still, there is important
premature morbidity and mortality. It is the fact that the Māori experience an additional load of
morbidity and mortality throughout life, beginning with a higher infant mortality rate. The
mortality rates are decreasing which results in high life expectancy of New Zealand. This shows
that mortality rate is linked to the life expectancy of the people. The gap between the male and
female death rates is narrow; the death rates of a male are more as compared to the female, this

Health and healthcare in New Zealand 2
result in high life expectancy of the female in New Zealand. The females exceeded the life
expectancy at birth by 3.7 years in the year 2012-2014 (NZ Herald, 2017).
The life expectancy rates at birth are increasing for Māori and non-Māori, the statistics for the
year 2012-2014 is discussed below:-
 In the year 2012-2014, the life expectancy of the Māori males was 73.0 years which
shows 2.6 years hike than the 2005-07 and for Māori females, it was 77.1 years which
shows a hike of 2.0 years.
 Talking about the non-Māori males the life expectancy was 80.3 years which is
approximately 1.3 years up than previous years and for non-Māori females it is 83.9 years
which shows 0.9 years up (Ministry of Social Development, 2017).
The infant death rates of Māori and non-Māori varies, for the year 2012-2014 the Māori rate was
approximately 6 per 1000 infant (0.59 percent). The infant death rate of male is more as
compared to the female, 0.65 approximately is the rate of male infant death rate and for a female,
and it is 0.55 approximately. The infant death rate of non-Māori is low as compared to the Māori
because the infant of Māori gets affected by more of the diseases or the health facility provided
to the Māori is not appropriate which result in death (Satats NZ, 2015).
The gap in the middle of the Māori and non-Māori life expectancy has decreased from past few
years. In the year 2005-2007, a non-Māori people were likely to live 8.2 years more than the
Māori person, the gap between the Māori and the non-Māori has been fallen to 7.1 years (NZ
Herald, 2015).
Causes of Death

Health and healthcare in New Zealand 3
Māori and non-Māori male and female rate of Morbidity varies because both the community
faces different types of diseases. The causes of death are categorized in two different ways by
age-standardized morality rated and by years of life lost. The table shows the ranking of the
diseases that affect the Māori and non-Māori people.
Causes of death- Māori families and Non-Māori families
Maori Males Females
 Ischaemic heart diseases
 Lung cancer
 Suicide
 Diabetes
 Motor vehicle accidents
 Lung cancer
 Ischaemic heart diseases
 Chronic obstructive
pulmonary diseases
 Cerebrovascular disease-
stroke
 Diabetes
Non- Māori  Ischaemic heart disease
 Suicide
 Lung cancer
 Cerebrovascular disease-
stroke
 Motor vehicle accidents
 Ischaemic heart disease
 Breast cancer
 Cerebrovascular disease-
stroke
 Lung cancer
 Colorectal cancer
The above tables show that the ischaemic heart disease was leading cause of disease which leads
to the death of Maori males and both non-Māori males and females. Lung cancer was a leading

Health and healthcare in New Zealand 4
cause which is faced by the Māori females that can lead to the premature death (Ministry of
Health, 2015). Suicide is a second leading disease for Māori male and this became a reason for
premature death for Maori male, it leads to the death of the non-Māori males as well. Māori
suicide rates are twice as high as of non-Māori in the year 2010-2012 (Ministry of Health, 2015).
This disparity is more for the females of the Māori, the females of the Māori families commit
suicide twice as non-Māori females. The male and females of the Māori families try to hurt
themselves intentionally and this sometimes leads to the death of the people, indirectly contribute
to the suicide rates. The Māori males and females hurt themselves more than the non-Māori
peoples (Ministry of Health, 2015). These diseases are faced by the people more frequently and
became a reason for premature death and ill health in New Zealand. Hence, the suicide rate of
Māori is more than the Non-Māori peoples of New Zealand. There are many common diseases
which are faced by the both Maori and non-Māori males and females (Denny, Farrant, Cosgriff,
Hart, Cameron, Johnson ... & Ameratunga, 2012).
Considering the Morbidity and mortality of New Zealand, the morality rates get affected due to
the diseases. The rise in the mobility rates leads to the more death opportunities which result in a
rise in the mortality rates of New Zealand. The health and health care of both Maori and both
non-Māori males and females matters a lot. There are some factors which create an impact on the
diseases and death rates in New Zealand. These factors can be Social, cultural and economic
factors of the country that affects the health and leads to the disparities among the people.
Factors that impact on disease and death rates in New Zealand
The social, cultural and economic factors can create an impact on the health of the people. The
major factors that are included in the social and economic factors are income and poverty,
employment, occupation, education, and culture. Income; Income is one of the factors that can

Health and healthcare in New Zealand 5
create an impact on the health and well-being of the people (Cesare, Khang, Asaria, Blakely,
Cowan, Farzadfar ... & Oum, 2013). The income inequalities are increasing in New Zealand
from past few years, the link between the poverty and the ill health is clear. The financial week
people lead to the illness and premature death in the country. This is the reason people don't take
admissions in the hospitals on the occurrence of diseases. This shows that income is the major
factor which leads to the premature death of the people if the people will get the treatment on
time they will be able to survive (Whiteford, Whiteford, Degenhardt, Rehm, Baxter, Ferrari,
Erskine, ... & Burstein, 2013). This shows that distribution of income not only creates the
difference between the rich and poor people but it also leads to the disparities in the health of
Māori and non-Māori.
Culture and ethnicity
The culture and ethnicity of New Zealand can create both positive and negative influence on the
health of the Māori and non-Māori male and females. The healthy dietary patterns, exercise
habits, and the behavior towards the health can impact the incidences of the disease. The diseases
hamper the health of the human being and these diseases might lead to the death of the people
(Pool, 2013). The government of New Zealand should try to make the people aware of the
healthy habits. These healthy habits and healthy diet should be adopted by the people so that they
will be able to keep themselves healthy. Māori and non-Māori male and females who are
educated, are focused towards their health and they make sure that they are able to keep
themselves healthy (Smith, 2012). This proves that education is one the factors that lead to the
diseases, the high-quality general education, and health education is lacking somewhere.
The people are not aware of the habits will impact the health; in case the Māori peoples are
aware then they might not be able to change their behavior towards the health. This is not all

Health and healthcare in New Zealand 6
about the education but it shows the social behavior of the people. The social behavior factors
influence the people for the positive health factors along with the negative health factors (Viner,
Ozer, Denny, Marmot, Resnick, Fatusi, & Currie, 2012). Knowledge of the healthy behaviors is
sometimes not enough to bring the changes in the health of the people, along with knowledge
there is need of motivation health behavior that can influence the people to improve the health
conditions.
According to the recent study by North Health in New Zealand shows that the socioeconomic
inequalities in health care in the northern region is increasing the discrimination among the
standard of living which affects the healthcare facilities and impact the incidences of the disease.
The effect of socioeconomic factors on health is increasing in New Zealand. There are different
cultural interpretations of health. The Māori word Hauora had a broader meaning than the
physical well-being and includes wairua, whanau and hinengaro aspects as well as important
cultural elements such as land, language, environment and extended family. The culture of the
Māori and Non-Māori vary as the Māori people are indigenous and are over-represented in a
lower socioeconomic grouping. This culture of the society influences the incidences of the
disease. Many of the ethnic difference in death and disease rates in New Zealand are believed to
relate to differences in the socioeconomic status of different ethnic groups (Smith, 2012).
Lifestyle
The lifestyle of New Zealand leads to addiction of many things, these things might be not good
for the health of the people. The lifestyle of New Zealand is very advance, this is the reason most
of the people smoke on daily basis. More of the Māori smoke as compared to the nation- Māori
people. The habit of smoking leads to many health-related diseases that can create an impact on
the Morbidity rate. The habit of smoking leads to the respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease,

Health and healthcare in New Zealand 7
and cancer in lungs in adults and these diseases leads to the premature death of the people.
Smoking at home can influence the children's to start smoking at an early age and leads to the
childhood illness. This is because of the lifestyle of New Zealand; people believe that smoking
will add on to their status (Connor, Kydd, Shield, & Rehm, 2015).
Diseases lead to death
The people who are suffering from diseases and are unhealthy might die; this enhances the death
rates of the people who are ill will not be able to survive for the longest time and will result in
the premature death. It is fact, that the life expectancy of a country is increasing continuously
which shows that the death rates are reducing as compared to the previous year. This is possible
because of the steps were taken by the government to reduce the disparities and to improve the
health conditions of the people. Though, it is also true that there are many diseases that lead to
the premature death of the people. Apart from diseases, there are factors like suicide and roads
accidents.
The suicide in New Zealand contributes to the death rates of New Zealand. The reason behind
the suicide by the males of Māori and non-Māori is poverty, high rate of influences, pressure or
emotional and mental challenges leads to the suicide of male (Ministry of Health, 2015). In the
year 2014, the suicide proportion of Māori men of all age group is 1.4 times more than of non-
Māori. This leads to disease and death rates in New Zealand (Illmer, 2017). The road accidents
lead to the death of both Māori and non-Māori males, the death rate of a country is also affected
because of these accidents.
The ministry of the health in New Zealand said that Maori people have a high rate of the mental
health and the addiction as compared to the non-Māori people. The rate of mental health of

Health and healthcare in New Zealand 8
Māori people increases 33.4% in last years and for non-Māori, it is 18.5%. According to the
disability survey 2013, the Māori people experience more Psychological/psychiatric disability
which is 7% and Non- Māori people faces disability 5%. The diabetes statics of New Zealand
shows that it is continuously increasing, the rate of from the year 2007 to 2014. This disease is
commonly found in people having the age group of 50-54 to 85+, this disease is continuously
increased for Māori and non-Māori people. The Māori people are likely to suffer from the
violence; the Māori adults were approximately 2.5 times as compared to Non- Māori and
because of this, they die from assault and homicide (Ministry of Health, 2015). The disparity was
high for males; the Māori males were 4% times high then the non-Māori males.
The main factors that lead to the death in New Zealand are cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Most of the Māori females are affected by the diseases like breast cancer, uterine cancer, lung
cancer, cervical cancer and many others. This disease of cancer is more in females of Māori than
the non-Māori females. The males of the Māori are also affected by the disease of lung cancer;
the rates of mortality are 3 times of non-Māori males. (Hawton, Saunders, & O'Connor, 2012)
Government action to address the disparities in New Zealand
The government of New Zealand follows some of the strategy and acts (Māori health strategy,
New Zealand public health and disability Act 2000, New Zealand Health Strategy 2016 and
many others) that help to enhance the health and well-being of the Māori people and families. It
is clear from the difference between the Māori and non-Māori male and females that Māori faces
more issues related to the health as compared to the non-Māori peoples. The ministry of health of
New Zealand is concerned about the health of the people of New Zealand. The strategies
followed by the ministry of health shows that government is concerned for the health and they
are taking steps to develop the health condition and to reduce the disability.

Health and healthcare in New Zealand 9
Maori health strategy
The ministry of health in New Zealand is a concern for the health and well-being of the Māori;
they want to bring the improvement in the health. The implementation of the Māori health
strategy will bring the development in a context of health and disabilities (Ministry of Health,
2017). The objective of the strategy is to support the families to accomplish the maximum
wellbeing and health. The poor health of the adults of the Māori made the ministry to provide the
services to the community so that they can avail the services provided by the government
(Ministry of Health, 2017). The ministry provides the benefits so that more and more people can
take the admissions in the hospitals.
New Zealand public health and disability Act 2000
DHBs have an objective to reduce the health outcome disparities; this improves the health
outcomes for Māori and another population group. He Korowai Oranga is the government
strategy that is formed to bring the improvement in Māori health and dropping the health
inequalities for Māori (Ministry of Health, 2014). Disability may lead too many problems and
New Zealand government don’t want that Māori people are facing inequalities. The national
health target is formed to reduce the disparities in the country but if in case there is still a
presence of disparities that the DHBs have to form the target again so that they will be able to
reduce the health disparities (Boulton, Tamehana, & Brannelly, 2013). The effectiveness of
DHBs initiatives need is there to reduce disparities for Māori.
New Zealand Health Strategy 2016
The New Zealand health strategy 2016 sets the way for health services to increase the health of
communities and people. This strategy is formed by the government on the basis of old strategy

Health and healthcare in New Zealand 10
which was formed in the year 2000. The new strategy which is developed is now doing to be a
direction for the New Zealand health system for next 10 years. The policy going to be followed
till the year 2026, the ministry of health will identify the next 27 places where they would like to
implement the strategy (Ministry of Health, 2016). This helps to increase the health of the
communities (Māori) and people (non-Māori). The aim of the strategy is to bring the changes in
the culture that improves the health of the people.
Recommendation
It is recommended to the ministry of the health to form a policy to bring the changes in the
culture and the social behavior of the people that influence the people. New Zealand passed an
amendment to the Smoke-Free Environment Act 1990, but this is the high time to upgrade that
act so that people start focusing on the act and implement that act (Been, Nurmatov, Cox,
Nawrot, van Schayck, & Sheikh, 2014). The act covers all the places like indoor public
workplace and hospitality venues, but now the government should add on some more restriction
so that children’s in the house don’t get influence with these habits. This will help in reducing
the death as well as diseases rate.
The government should focus on the economic factors that are creating the impact on the disease
and death rate. The income distribution is becoming a barrier for the people and becoming a
reason of less registration in the hospitals that affects the health. The gap between the income of
the Māori and non-Māori is generating the disparities, the ministry of health could have provided
favor in terms of the money that helps the people financial, and they will not feel the burden of
same. This is the way that helps to address the disparities in New Zealand (Ministry of Health,
2014). This will also help the government in reducing the suicide rates in the country which
directly affects the death rates. The ministry of health can organize few programs with the NGOs

Health and healthcare in New Zealand 11
that help in generating the awareness about the healthy diet and the exercise that improve the
health conditions of the people. The awareness is required to reduce the heart diseases which is a
major reason for the premature death of the Māori and non-Māori male.
The paper shows that the mortality and morbidity rates are focus points for the government. The
New Zealand ministry of health is working on it so that they can bring the improvement in the
health conditions and reduce the disparities. The Māori and non-Māori males and females both
are suffering from the health problems; there is a difference between the mortality rate and
mortality rate of both Māori and non-Māori, the Māori is having high mortality and morbidity
rate as compared to the non-Māori. There are certain factors that can impact on the disease and
death rates in New Zealand. The government plays a vital role in reducing the factors impact so
that they can enhance the life expectancy of the country.
The Māori people are suffering more that is the reason the ministry of health taken a step to bring
improvement in the health conditions of the people. The Māori health strategy was formed with a
motive to improve the health and reduce the disparities. The gap between the Māori and non-
Māori is declining and this is the reason company is now focusing on health which is clear with
the implementation of New Zealand Health Strategy 2016.

Health and healthcare in New Zealand 12
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Health and healthcare in New Zealand 15
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