Maori Party Praises Public Health Champion
te-pati-maori
Fri Jul 06 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Maori Party Praises Public Health Champion
Friday, 6 July 2007, 4:57 pm
Press Release: The Maori Party
Maori Party Praises Public Health Champion for 2007;
Friday 6 July 2007 Tariana Turia,
Health Spokesperson for the Maori Party
The Maori Party has congratulated the Public Health Association in naming Associate Professor Papaarangi Reid the Public Health Champion of 2007.
"In a time in which public health in this country is under considerable risk, it is to the credit of this Association that they have selected such a bold and passionate advocate as Papaarangi for their prestigious national award" said Mrs Turia.
"Papaarangi is not shy to court controversy" said Mrs Turia. "She has been an incredible source of strength for Maori health providers, in continuing to argue for the rights of tangata whenua to monitor the Crown, insisting that Maori must actively scrutinize Crown expenditure on Maori health if we are ever to see progress made in reducing disparities".
"I have enormous admiration for the analysis Papaarangi has brought to areas as diverse as Maori sexual and reproductive health; cardiovascular risk factors; quality improvement; the impacts of alcohol consumption; or the financial effects of tobacco tax increases on Maori and low income households" said Mrs Turia, health spokesperson for the Maori Party.
"And I mihi to her, for her leadership as both director of the Eru Pomare Maori Health Research Centre (Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences) and as Tumuaki at Auckland University" said Mrs Turia. "She has actively recruited and enlisted Maori students into the discipline of health. Her capacity to excite the up and coming generation of Maori graduates is very important to ensure long term investment in Maori health gain".
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Assoc Prof Reid, who is of Te Aupouri and Te Rarawa descent, oversees the development of active teaching and research programmes as Tumuaki (Maori Dean) in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, at the University of Auckland.
"Papaarangi has eloquently described the flaws of health policy and practice, in her efforts towards the elimination of ethnic inequalities in health" said Mrs Turia.
"Such insight is particularly vital at this very time in public health, when the health sector is threatened by structural change, again" said Mrs Turia. "People like Papaarangi play a vital role in reminding us of the need for public health to remain of utmost importance if we want to see health outcomes improve for all New Zealanders" ended Mrs Turia.
Section 3E of the Health Act 1956 specifies that the capacity to deliver on public health advisory functions is a statutory requirement. The Government is currently discussing a proposal to disband the Public Health directorate, a move which stands to affect the capacity of the Ministry of Health to carry out these statutory requirements.
ENDS
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