Pacific students missing out on health care

NEW ZEALAND – A quarter of Pacific students in New Zealand are missing out on crucial health care and many cannot access dental care when they need it.

An Auckland University survey of nearly 1500 students in 2012 was released this month looking into their health and well-being.

Community groups have been leading the charge to improve those statistics – but more needs to be done.

Lead author of the survey report, Jacinta Fa’alili- Fidow, says her survey shows that health outcomes for Pacific youth can be improved.

“In terms of access to health services and access to dental services there was quite a difference there between Pacific and European so I think there’s still a lot of work that could be done by our health sector in terms of making sure our young people when they want to access health services are able to,” she said.

Fa’alili-Fidow said despite Pacific youth living in challenging situations there were positive trends in the survey.

She says there have been major improvements in health and wellbeing with Pacific youth increasingly aspiring to achieve in education and form stronger relationships with their family.

“Pacific students drink less than our European students so you know it’s not always about a deficit there for Pacific and in some areas, Pacific actually rated better and in so many other areas they were very similar.”

Pacific Youth Leadership and Transformation Council leader, Josiah Tualamali’i, said the survey results are not surprising – and just reiterate the struggles they are facing.

“I kind of hope that policy makers look at this and it’s the freshening they need to revisit the way that they deal with these issues.

“But for our community it really just adds another set of papers to the stack. I really appreciate the work that they’ve done but I guess the ball’s in the court of the decision-makers now to see what they do with it.”

Tualamali’i says community groups are leading the way in educating Pacific youth on what access they have to health and education.

“But overall there is just so much more to do and that’s not a real surprise. I know a lot of programmes and activities that the government and others try to run is just trying to wedge a solution into the system but it’s not changing the system

“So for me this just reinforces that to close the parity gap that our community faces we need systemic change.”

The survey also found between 2001 and 2012 there was a four per cent decrease in the proportion of Pacific students reporting significant depressive symptoms.

Almost a quarter of students reported their parents worrying about not having enough food and 36 per cent said that someone at home sleeps in a room not designated for sleeping in.

- RNZI