Māori children with asthma hospitalised twice as frequently as non-Māori - report

A child in a hospital bed.
A new report has highlighted blatant inequalities. Photo credit: Getty

Māori children are hospitalised with asthma are hospitalised at twice the rate of non-Māori, showing clear inequities in health outcomes.

A new study by the Liggins Institute at the University of Auckland also revealed more Māori children were readmitted to hospital within 90 days of their first admission - 18 percent, compared to 14 percent for non-Māori.

Asthma admission rates for children from families living in the most deprived areas were, on average, 2.8 times higher than in the least deprived areas. 

"Our analysis indicates that many New Zealand children, particularly Māori children and those living in areas of high deprivation, are not receiving levels of primary care for asthma that are consistent with prevention," says researcher Dr Justin O'Sullivan. 

Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ (ARFNZ) chief executive Letitia Harding says the findings match the organisation's own.

"Our latest report, The Impact of Respiratory Disease in New Zealand: 2018 Update, found that prevalence, hospitalisation and mortality were all significantly higher for both Māori and Pacific peoples, and in more socioeconomically deprived neighbourhoods.

"The report recommended that urgent new and extended programmes are needed to reduce the severe ethnic and socio-economic inequalities in respiratory disease." 

In response to these findings, ARFNZ has launched an educational musical puppet show in te reo Māori and English, which educates young children about asthma.

Booklets on managing children's asthma are also available in te reo Māori.

"The support we get from Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori helps us to get information and resources to the most vulnerable communities," says Harding.

"The findings of the University of Auckland study reinforce the value and necessity of this outreach work."