Health policy, health inequalities and Maori

Abstract

Health policy has the very important role of guiding the efforts of the health sector towards population health, navigating the ‘choppy waters’ or dynamic contexts within which health is impacted and promoted. As the whakataukī (proverb/s) above caution, there are inherent dangers in being misguided, or in not coordinating efforts. In relation to Māori health, policy in Aotearoa New Zealand is marked by fluctuations between policies of assimilation and policies that support the retention and development of Māori interests (Durie, 2005, p. 4). Policy changes have been subtle but at times profound, moving gradually closer to a Māori worldview within a sectorally based public sector (Cunningham & Durie, 2005, p. 211). With reference primarily to public policy, this chapter will outline the broad dimensions of health policy in New Zealand, how health policy has, and has not, addressed the needs of Māori with particular reference to the health disparities that characterise Māori health in New Zealand