Te Tiratū Iwi Māori Partnership Board co-chair Glen Tupuhi and expert advisor, researcher Dr Leanne Te Karu have spoken to RNZ about growing concerns over Pharmac’s proposal to remove ethnicity-based access criteria for type 2 diabetes medicines, despite new evidence showing significant life-saving benefits for Māori and Pacific communities.
In the interview, Dr Te Karu said the original criteria were introduced because Māori and Pacific peoples were not receiving equitable access to treatment through the health system, despite experiencing higher rates of diabetes, earlier onset disease, and more severe complications.
She said the medicines had been shown to improve equity outcomes and narrow survival gaps, warning that removing the criteria before systemic inequities are addressed risks widening disparities again.
Te Tiratū co-chair Glen Tupuhi said that treating everyone the same within an inequitable system does not create fairness, but instead entrenches inequity. Te Tiratū is filing a submission to Pharmac calling on it to reconsider the proposal and ensure equity remains central to decision-making for whānau experiencing the highest health burden.