Marking World Health Day, the Ministry of Health (MoH) has joined the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) call for action to eliminate health inequities.
For more than 50 years World Health Day (April 7) has been used to create awareness around WHO’s priority areas of concern and this year’s campaign is focused on building a fairer, healthier world for everyone.
“In Aotearoa, we acknowledge that people have differences in health that are not only avoidable but unfair and unjust,” said MoH deputy director general of Māori health John Whaanga. “We know there is a significant gap in health equity between Māori and other New Zealanders: Māori are more likely to die than non-Māori at all ages and Māori health status remains unequal with non-Māori across almost all chronic and infectious diseases, as well as injuries.
“This Ministry stands behind Te Tiriti o Waitangi and is dedicated to the achievement of equitable health outcomes for all Māori. While some gains have been made, more work needs to be done to achieve health equity for whānau Māori living in New Zealand,” Whaanga said.
More on what the eyecare world is doing to help boost equity in eyecare will be released in May.
