This week, I wanted to write a bit about the Maori health indicators and statistics that the Ministry of Health in New Zealand have posted, and were shared with me at the Treaty of Waitangi Training that I attended. First, some basics: 565,329 people identified themselves as Maori, 14.6% of the total population compared with 434,847 in 1991. The median age for Maori was 22.7 years-compared to total population median of 35.9 years. 35.4% of Maori are under 15 years old, making that 21.5% of the total population-much younger than the non-Maori population.
84.4% of Maori lived in urban areas and 23.7% said they could hold everyday conversations in Maori.
In the educational realm, 39.9% of the over-15 year olds had no educational qualifications.
This is one of the statistics that really caught my attention: In 2001, life expectancy at birth was 69 years for Maori males and 73 years for Maori females, while life expectancy at birth was 77years for non-Maori males and 82 years for non-Maori females-an overall difference of eight years for both genders of Maori individuals. Many of the causes for disability and illness are cardiovascular disease (2 1/2 times higher, cancer (2x more than non-Maori) and diabetes (2 1/2x higher). Maori had higher suicide mortality rates than non-Maori (over 1 1/2 x).
There is a great focus of trying to change these statistics, and education and services are a priority for many of the District Health Boards, directed by the Ministry of Health. I wonder how these statistics compare to our Alaska Native groups. From my own experience, it appears to be some similarities in these groups of first people. I hope that I can be part of the process to change these statistics for the better.
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