Welcome

BACKGROUND

Mana Tane Ora o Aotearoa the National Māori Mens Health Coalition (Provider), was mandated at the inaugural conference held in June 2009. The inception of a National Māori Mens Health Coalition is underpinned by a call for proactive responsiveness to the relatively poor health statistics and lower life expectancy of Māori men, and the need for nationally networked approaches and strategies to address the health and social issues of Māori men in Aotearoa.

In 2001 there were 157,000 Māori men over the age of 15 living in New Zealand, 83% of whom resided in urban areas. This number is predicted to double by 2051. (Hauora Tane:Brief Report Māori Men’s Health Study).

The work done to date is that Mana Tane Ora o Aotearoa was successful in its application to the Te Ao Auahatanga Hauora Māori: Māori Innovation Fund under the category; Te Kākano: Seeding Innovation. The purpose of the Te Ao Auahatanga Hauora Māori: Māori Innovation Fund provides the opportunity to create, develop and share innovative practices in Māori health, and expand on successful models, programmes and services. It also supports the sharing of successful practices and effective outcomes with the wider sector, providing a forum for information exchanges and facilitating research and best practice guidance. 

Mana Tane Ora o Aotearoa will work to consolidate our initial establishment as a National organisation through the development of a strategic and business plan. Mana Tane Ora o Aotearoa is committed to undertaking national networking, raise awareness of men’s health issues, profile relevant health and social services targeting men’s health including best practise, share information, research and collaborative approaches with key stakeholders with a view to improving Māori men’s health.

Mana Tane Ora o Aotearoa is committed to undertaking a round of consultation hui to determine membership and the regional make up processes.

In addition, Mana Tane Ora o Aotearoa will work to capture, collate and be a repository for information/data relevant to Māori men’s health, and will perform the role of a clearing house for that information/data to members and relevant networks.  

 

MĀORI MEN'S HEALTH

As a population group, Māori have on average the poorest health status of any ethnic group in New Zealand. As such, Men’s Health Week has a strong focus on improving the health of Māori men in the context of whānau ora. 

Māori men fare poorly compared with other New Zealanders on a number of health indicators:

In 2005–2007, male life expectancy at birth was 79.0 years for non-Māori and 70.4 years for Māori, a difference of 8.6 years.

The death rate for Māori males is approximately twice that of non-Māori males.

Leading causes of death for Māori men include cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and respiratory disease.

Māori men are 1.5 times more likely to be current smokers than men in the total population.

In order to improve Māori men’s health it is necessary to understand and address the root causes of these inequalities. It is well documented that Māori men have poorer access to the social determinants of health (such as education, employment and income) than non-Māori men. In addition, Māori are less well served by the New Zealand health care system, not just in terms of access but also in relation to the quality of care provided.

The underlying causes of these inequalities relate to New Zealand’s colonial history, social marginalisation and racism at a number of levels. This represents a breach of the rights of Māori men. As well as empowering Māori men to take steps to improve their health, it will be necessary to address these broader social factors and ensure health care services deliver effectively to Māori men.

What these negative statistics obscure is the enormous potential that Māori males have. Māori males have made significant contributions in a range of fields including the arts, politics, sport, science, law and medicine. Many of the stories behind these achievements are about resilience in the face of adversity. Being a healthy Māori male is about drawing strength from one's cultural identity and heritage while at the same time being a global citizen with the ability to succeed in many different 'worlds'. Improving wellbeing for Māori males means removing the barriers to achieving these goals. There is a lot of passion and energy in Māori communities around advancing Māori men's health; this needs to be supported at all levels of society so that the full potential of Māori males can be realised.