Turia Tariana: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
Turia Tariana: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:627;Page:22027] 
TARIANA TURIA (Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 I shall focus my korero on diabetes. New Zealand has made some incredible achievements on the international stage including of course our Nga Rauru and Ngati Ruanui golf champion winning the United States Open. We will all welcome him home later this week and that is Michael Campbell. But there is another world record that nobody is talking about. An epidemic of type 2 diabetes is occurring in New Zealand driven mainly by demographic trends and the increasing prevalence of obesity. The epidemic most severely affects Maori and Pacific peoples. Mortality rates for Maori are six times higher than those for non-Maori and the situation is just as bad for Pacific peoples. 
Just 3 weeks ago public health experts gathered in Wellington to discuss the fact that health inequalities are still evident. The conference concluded that it was ironic that while some politicians are making political mileage out of claiming targeted interventions as race based those same politicians are not standing up to draw attention to the race-based inequalities that created the need for the interventions in the first place. Looking particularly at race-based privilege in relation to Maori I point out that Maori develop diabetes 10 years earlier than non-Maori do Maori are four times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than non-Maori are and we are overrepresented in cases of diabetic renal failure with rates up to 10 times that of non-Maori. What is of even more concern is that a study undertaken by Dr David Tipene-Leach and his colleagues revealed the very high prevalence of insulin resistance among Maori from the East Coast north of Gisborne particularly young adults below 40 years of age. Such a finding indicates that type 2 diabetes is already well established in our midst. 
So what do the 2005 Estimates of Appropriations say about such a vital health issue for this nation? In the 50 pages allocated to Vote Health the word “diabetes” was mentioned once on page 727. This is a life-and-death issue. Diabetes causes approximately 1200 deaths per year and in fact at least 1000 people lose their limbs. There was one mention of diabetes in 50 pages and no specific Budget investment. We cannot afford to wait any longer. These are issues of great significance to Vote Health. Diabetes presents a significant health challenge for Aotearoa and should be a major priority for health investment. We should be seeing a comprehensive multifaceted strategy to address this disease on all fronts. Prevention and better-quality care could reduce costly hospitalisation. Indeed half the cases of kidney failure and dialysis blindness and amputation could be prevented if more money was invested. We need gold-star treatment and we need it now. 
One of the most bizarre statements in this year’s estimates is the following: “The Ministry of Health is the Government’s primary advisor on health policy and issues and its contribution to improving health and independence is largely indirect.” One would have thought a policy agency would take direct responsibility for analysing the demographic trends assessing the population demand and forecasting appropriate interventions. The recent economic study commissioned from PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that current services for diabetes costs the taxpayer about $247 million. If current services are kept at similar levels the estimated cost of diabetes will be over a billion dollars each year by the year 2021 in current dollar terms. That is because of the projected increase in the numbers of people developing complications such as blindness limb amputation and dialysis requiring hospitalisation. 
Progress reported. 
Report adopted.