Maori public health

Despite the gap closing slightly through the special vote count, recreational cannabis use continues to remain illegal under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Hāpai te Hauora is once again calling for the Government to honor its Tiriti Partnership, and echoes calls for strong Māori leadership to spearhead response to second wave of COVID-19, as Aucklander’s brace for 12 more days at Level 3, whilst the country navigates the second wave of COVID-19 community transmission.

Hāpai te Hauora welcomes the decision of the Food Standards Authority for Australia and New Zealand to make pregnancy warning labels compulsory on all alcohol products within the next three years.

This morning the government announced major changes in the strategic direction and composition of the New Zealand health sector.

A $136 million boost to whānau ora to help Māori recover from COVID-19 is welcomed but specific funding for Māori and public health initiatives is unclear, says Hāpai Te Hauora chief executive Selah Hart

Selah Hart, CEO of Hāpai Te Hauora says "The timing of this year’s budget announcement during the Covid-19 pandemic should ensure public health issues are front and centre."

This week a collective of mana whenua, Māori health providers, advocates and community take their concerns about alcohol harm inequities to a symposium held at Middlemore Hospital.

This week the Government put their values into action by voting against the third reading of the "Psychoactive Substances (Increasing Penalty for Supply and Distribution) Amendment Bill". Hāpai Te Hauora, Māori public health advocates, say this is a small step in the right direction to treating drug harm as a health issue in Aotearoa. 

As expressed by many MPs in Parliament, rather than addressing drug demand, this bill would instead have entrenched the cycle of drug distribution and harm.

Hāpai te Hauora general manager Janell Dymus-Kurei is concerned about the rising number of synthetic drug deaths, given more than half of synthetic users are Māori

A bill before Parliament that puts police discretion into law for how to handle drug users could hurt Māori unfairly because of unconscious bias, the Drug Foundation and Māori health advocates say.