Street Maryan: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Street Maryan: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 01 May 2012. Volume:679;Page:1795. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon MARYAN STREET (Labour) 
: 
 In an end-of-term review of the New Zealand Government’s actions on five major health risk factors undertaken by the University of Otago department of public health the scorecard of this Government in its first term is woeful. There were five top health risk factors that were assessed in the health portfolio. They go in descending order of importance and the first one was tobacco use. The summary around progress on that one was “Some progress but gaps remain which need to be addressed if substantive progress towards the smoke-free nation goal is to be achieved”. It says further: “there are unresolved issues around achieving the smoke-free nation 2025 goal notably the lack of any coherent strategy or milestones for achieving this goal.”  
The second risk factor that was at issue in this report was alcohol use. The report card says: “Some limited plans for legislative reforms that do not adequately utilise major interventions such as alcohol tax”. That is hardly a ringing endorsement of achievement in that area.  
The third one was high blood pressure and that received a “No progress” result: “No progress on reducing salt intake”. It further says: “This inaction is problematic given the many international studies suggesting how cost-effective interventions to reduce salt intake would be …”. So not even the cheap things have been done by this Government.  
Another is high blood glucose. Well we have just had diabetics lined up outside Parliament today furious at the possibility that they will be required to use an inferior blood glucose meter because of Pharmac’s provisional contract with Pharmaco to be the sole supplier of these critical devices. But even when it comes to high blood glucose what is the scorecard on the Government’s performance in health? “No progress on improving nutrition and mixed progress on supporting enhanced physical activity”. They go on to say: “Others have reported on the lack of a national strategy to address obesity and that in NZ ‘population approaches to reduce the burden of obesity have been systematically cut in the last 3 years; for example the National Healthy Eating Health Action Strategy is no more Mission On has disappeared [a physical activity programme] and the requirement for schools to provide healthy food has been abolished.’ ” 
This Government’s record in the health portfolio is not coming up to scratch. It is not passing. The fifth area was about overweight and obesity rates and the comments were exactly the same as the previous comments on high blood glucose. In other words there was no progress. This is an appalling indictment on what this Government has done in the health portfolio.  
But even more important than that if we go to immediate data—the data of the last year or so that is under consideration—it is clear that New Zealand is experiencing under this Government increasing levels of inequality higher rates of child poverty worse levels of housing provision and the consequent health risks that attend each of those factors.  
Another report that came out was from Otago University’s Michael Baker. The New Zealand Child and Youth Epidemiology Service said hospital admissions of children with serious bacterial infections doubled from 210 for every 100000 children in 1991 to 451 in the meningococcal epidemic in 2001. That fell back to 377 by 2005 after the epidemic was contained. How was the epidemic contained? It was because a Labour Government saw fit to invest in that meningococcal immunisation programme. But admissions have risen again since then since this Government has been in power.