What kind of country are we living in when...

[PrincessBandit]

"Economists have proven it's cheaper to let Maori children die than spend money to provide equitable health treatment.

Maori children have some of the worst health outcomes in the country.

They make significantly fewer outpatient calls to hospitals, visit the doctor less, make fewer ACC claims, have fewer drugs prescribed, and undergo fewer lab tests than other groups.

Auckland University researchers say the health sector would "save" almost $25 million by doing nothing to improve the children's health outcomes, calculated on an annual basis.

There is no suggestion those involved in the study advocate such a position, and Northland doctor Clair Mills, who worked on the study, said the research found the social and long-term economic implications of doing nothing would be a far greater burden on the country to carry.

“The facts around inequities in child health of Maori are not new. It is the persistent ugly outcome of the whole way our society operates"."

At least the headline no longer reads as it did when I first read it this morning ("cheaper to let Maori children die than pay for their long term medical care"). I couldn't believe that a headline like that could appear, sure enough when i went to show my husband it had been changed to something along the line of "inequalities in healthcare for Maori children".

[oldrider]

Can't read your "yellow" text!

[PrincessBandit]

Can't read your "yellow" text!

changed it to red. Maybe it should go back to white, but then I might seem to favour whities...


p.s. on a hilarious note, at quiz night the other night one question was to name a well-loved New Zealand tv presenter (it was Selwyn Toogood). The clip showed him hosting some children's quiz show and the question was "what would you be if you were described as "yellow"? " and the kids answered, with the obligatory rising question mark in his voice "chinese?" To make matters worse there was a young Asian boy on the panel!

[Scuba_Steve]

Well the headline did it's job then... got you to read it

Advertising 101 - Shock & Awe

[mashman]

It's also cheaper to not offer ACC cover for existing or recurring injuries... they're only kids and it's the fault of the parents for not making use of the services that are provided. I'm glad my kids are white, looks like they're safe.

[JimO]

its cheaper to let anybody die than it is to treat them

[duckonin]

Drop the 'Maori' word there are none, they are multi cultural white's. Parent's are to blame not the system ! Next to blame for over zelous hype, Journo's.

[FJRider]

I haven't been to a hospital out-patients clinic in over 30 years. That is not to say I haven't been sick or injured. A hospital out-patients clinic is not an option I have had. Free GP visits for under 5's is available in most areas ... so a hospital out-patient visit may not be required.

I doubt if GP's declare their clients on the basis of race ... so little cross indexing of the stat's would not be possible.

This is just one bundle of statistics from one source (hospitals) trying to show/prove a point. You figure out the reason ....

[Road kill]

It's also cheaper to not offer ACC cover for existing or recurring injuries... they're only kids and it's the fault of the parents for not making use of the services that are provided. I'm glad my kids are white, looks like they're safe.

Yeah good one.

Your kids are not safe because their white,their safe because you look out for them.

But I suspect you already knew that huh

[Madness]

its cheaper to let anybody die than it is to treat them

Yeah, but we wanted to pay some experts a shit load of money just so we could be sure of that fact.

"Economists have proven it's cheaper to let Maori children die than spend money to provide equitable health treatment.

Auckland University researchers say the health sector would "save" almost $25 million by doing nothing to improve the children's health outcomes, calculated on an annual basis.

The facts around inequities in child health of Maori are not new. It is the persistent ugly outcome of the whole way our society operates"

So nothing new has been learned from yet another university study, presumably funded from taxpayer coffers. How much did this cost us?

Yeah good one.

Your kids are not safe because their white,their safe because you look out for them.

But I suspect you already knew that huh

Short Circuit should be here any minute...

[SMOKEU]

This isn't news. The same thing happens in any country when people of "colour" are involved. "They" always tend to have worse health and live in poor conditions compared to white people.

[James Deuce]

I doubt if GP's declare their clients on the basis of race ... so little cross indexing of the stat's would not be possible.

Yes, they do and it's free for under-6s not under-5s.

[ducatilover]

This isn't news. The same thing happens in any country when people of "colour" are involved. "They" always tend to have worse health and live in poor conditions compared to white people.

Fuckin' Amazonian pricks!

[mashman]

Yeah good one.

Your kids are not safe because their white,their safe because you look out for them.

But I suspect you already knew that huh

Not sure why you are laughing. My kids are white, it means that they won't suffer at the hands of the majority of racists, it means that they have a better chance of a good education, it means they have a better chance of staying out of jail, it means they have a brighter future and not just coz their whole body glows in the dark as opposed to their eyes and teeth. I know this because the government says so and as they are the ones who make the decisions in regards to who gets what, and are mainly white, I have no need to fear for the future of my children... their own will take care of them.

This isn't news. The same thing happens in any country when people of "colour" are involved. "They" always tend to have worse health and live in poor conditions compared to white people.

Funny. I grew up playing with the kids on several housing estates where I never saw a black face and they lived in conditions that were by far worse than my own, which wasn't exactly an affluent background by any means. So I call bullshit you racist piece of monkey spunk. Just because you're white doesn't mean that your Dad was.

[Drew]

I am clearly the only one who sees this as a fault, not with the health system?

I'm not being racist, the first cunt says I am gets red every day for a month.

There seems to be a problem at the education of parents. The health system is there for them, as it is for everyone else.

Inequities in the health system is a gross misrepresentation of the situation.