The National, ACT and New Zealand First coalition Government is threatening to axe programmes that offer Māori and Pacific people preferential treatment to enter medical school.
The Māori and Pacific Admission Scheme (MAPAS) was developed in the 1970s to encourage greater diversity within the health sector and reflect the needs of communities across New Zealand.
Now, it’s being examined as part of ACT’s intentions to scrap "race-based policies."
Speaking to Breakfast, University of Auckland’s Warwick Bagg said academics are "deeply disappointed" that a rollback of the scheme is even up for discussion.
"We have shown through these programmes that we can bring Māori and Pacific people through to successful graduation and be great doctors for all of Aotearoa New Zealand," he said.
Latest population figures show Māori make up 16.5% of the population, while Māori doctors number 4.7%.
New Zealand's Pacific populationis 8.2%, with healthcare professionals from this demographic at 2.2%.
Bagg said we are "nowhere near demographic equity for Māori and Pacific doctors," and there is a lot of work to do.
Medical and Health Sciences professor Sir Colin Tukuitonga said the proposed elimination of the scheme is "unfortunate."
"International research shows, where you have the healthcare provider from the same ethnic language, with the patient, you have better outcomes, no question," he said.
He said this research suggests a better outcome for the patient, their family, whānau, and the entire country.
Bagg said there are disadvantages that Māori and Pacifica students face, even before students attempt to enter the profession.
"There’s a system that profoundly disadvantages Māori and Pacific peoples from attaining educational achievement, and socioeconomic deprivation is one of the major drivers behind that."
We need to ensure there’s a pathway for them to enter into the programme, some of which is educational, but others are social... letting them know this is their cohort, this is their place and where they belong," he said.
Bagg said in “between 60 and 90 students” go through the University of Auckland programme each year, a huge increase from the early days of the programme in the 1970s.
“There’s no question that it works and if you look through our health system, we are seeing many more Māori and Pacific people in senior leadership positions and we need to have more,” he said.
He also indicated that Māori may feel more comfortable being checked by someone of their ethnicity, which would encourage them to present at a doctor earlier.
“Why it’s being questioned is absolutely beyond me."
Tukuitonga said MAPAS has been in place for 20 years and New Zealand needs to make "courageous, deliberate efforts" to improve enrolment and success.
"Otherwise we would be like a lot of countries elsewhere where indigenous populations don't even figure in the health workforce," he said.
"If anything, I want to see more of this type of initiative to accelerate to and get us to a place where our medical workforce reflects our country, that's where we're heading."
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the Government wanted to see more Māori and Pasifika doctors.
‘We have a number of programmes at different universities up and down the country, we want to make sure that programmes are working to deliver Māori and Pasifika doctors into Māori and Pasifika communities, in particular."
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