Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

New Zealand’s most recent health survey shows that Pasifika are worse off, percentage-wise, than the average population in many areas.

The July 2023 – July 2024 survey has just been launchedand it shows that more children are going hungry and waiting times for GPs continue to rise, along with rates of mental distress.

Health Minister Dr Shane Reti said the findings from the annual snapshot highlighted “the need to continue to drive better health outcomes for New Zealanders”.

The research found that 27% of all New Zealand children live in food insecure homes, up from 21% the previous year.

For Pacific children, the figure was 54%.

The survey of 9719 adults (aged 15 and over) and 3062 children in 2023/24 found:

• 22.3% of Pasifika adults – about 65,000 people – had a medical problem, but did not visit a GP because of cost, in the last 12 months
• 65% of Pasifika (estimated at 189,000 adults) are classified as obese
• 12.7% of Pasifika adults (estimated at 37,000 people) had an unmet need for mental health or addiction services in the past 12 months
• 20% of Pacific adults (an estimated 58,000 people) experienced great or very great psychological distress in the past four weeks (scoring 12 or more on the Kessler Scale of Psychological Distress)
• 81.9% of Pasifika (estimated at 238,000 people) said their overall health was good, very good or excellent
• Nearly half of adults (44.9 percent) reported unmet need for dental care because of cost. Rates were lower for Maori, Pacific, disabled people, people living in the most deprived neighborhoods and those aged 25-54.
• Less than half of adults (46.6 percent) met physical activity recommendations (at least 2.5 hours of moderate-intensity activity in the past week—down from 50.9 percent five years ago)
• One in 11 adults (9.1 percent) and 8.2 percent of children aged 2-14 ate the recommended amount of vegetables

Dr Reti said he was committed to strengthening the health workforce, particularly by training more doctors and primary care specialists.

“We want people to be able to access primary care so they don’t have to visit emergency departments in the first place and we can reduce the pressure on our hospital system.”

He said by boosting the wider economy and reducing inflation, the government was working to enable New Zealanders to afford GP visits and groceries.

“Health New Zealand faced a particularly difficult time during this survey period. I am encouraged to see that overall 85.4% of New Zealanders report being in good health and recognize Health NZ’s role in supporting this,” Dr Reti said.

“I will continue to work with ministers and associated agencies to address the challenges this survey identifies and build on the successes.”