6 APRIL NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE 797

Improving the health of New Zealanders

The Government is committed to improving the health of New Zealanders. Because good health is the result of complex inter-relationships, it is important to have a comprehensive approach of both prevention and treatment. This implies particular approaches for specific population groups which have greatest risk. These approaches should be provided within appropriate community settings where practical.

The HFA should aim to improve health overall by improving the health of population groups which have consistently poorer health than the rest of New Zealanders. To do this, the sector must focus not only on particular diseases or treatments, but also look to the total situation of those population groups. The population groups experiencing consistently poorer health are Māori, Pacific peoples, migrants and refugees.

The HFA should work with the Ministry of Health to implement and further develop comprehensive approaches to improving the health of all New Zealanders. The HFA should ensure that there is co-ordination of programmes across operating groups to ensure integrated effort to improve health.

The most powerful determinants of health are economic and social conditions. At the broadest level, macro social and economic policies that are beyond the direct influence of the health sector are likely to have the greatest impact on health. The HFA should:

• Reduce inequalities in health associated with socio-economic factors through working with other sectors to reduce the risk factors that people are exposed to;

• Reduce the adverse health effects of socio-economic factors through health promotion and early identification and intervention.

The HFA should work with the Ministry of Health to develop and implement the New Zealand Health Goals as part of the New Zealand Health Strategy. This will involve:

• Developing funding plans to control major long-term health issues and risk factors;

• Beginning by reviewing funding plans for existing strategies for health improvement.

Māori health

The Government is committed to improving the health status of Māori and building the capacity of Māori, through provider, workforce and professional development, to deliver health and disability support services. It is also necessary to ensure that mainstream providers continue to develop services which are responsive to the particular needs of Māori.

The HFA should continue work, including allocating resources, on its eight Māori health gain priority areas, with particular priority to immunisation, smoking and diabetes, and others of those priority areas targeted elsewhere in this document. The Government wishes to see the HFA work closely with the Ministry of Health to improve Māori health through promotion and early intervention initiatives in these priority areas. Further, specific responses and new ways of delivering services in disability support services, young people’s health (including sexual health), areas of high deprivation and primary health care are sought.

Mental health

The implementation of the Mental Health Commission’s Blueprint for Mental Health Services is a high priority for the Government.

In the immediate future, the HFA should work with the Ministry of Health and the Mental Health Commission to prepare an action plan for implementing the Blueprint.

Waiting times for elective surgery

The Government is committed to reducing waiting times for elective surgery. The HFA should work with the Ministry of Health to develop and implement an action plan for:

• Rapid and sustained reduction in waiting times for first specialist assessments;

• Rapid and sustained reduction in waiting times for elective surgery.

In addition, the HFA and the Ministry of Health should collaborate to develop a national management system for elective surgery.

Pacific health

Improving the relatively poor health of Pacific peoples is a high priority for the Government. Improvements in the health of Pacific peoples will come about through health promotion and early intervention initiatives and the greater participation of Pacific peoples at all levels of the health and disability sector, including as service providers. The HFA should work closely with the Ministry of Health to develop and implement plans to improve the health of Pacific peoples.

Rural people’s health

The Government is committed to ensuring that an adequate range of services is available to rural communities. Of particular concern to the Government are hospitals such as Masterton, Thames, Kaitaia, Wairau, West Coast, Tairāwhiti and Whakatane. In some cases it is appropriate to compensate hospital providers, in the form of a premium, to recognise the additional costs of providing services in rural locations. The development and support of a cohesive rural primary care strategy, including services for Māori, is also a priority.

Children’s health

The Government expects to see considerable effort going into improving our children’s health. The health sector’s key contribution to this is the continuing implementation of the Child Health Strategy. Two specific areas of focus for the immediate future are immunisation and Plunket Line.

Improving New Zealand’s childhood immunisation rates is a key aspect of Government policy.

The HFA has recently signed up to immunisation targets and is preparing an implementation plan. It is the Government’s expectation that this plan will give effect to the National Health Committee’s recommendations concerning “hard-to-reach” children.

The HFA’s plan is expected to provide the basis for making substantive progress in reducing the incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases amongst New Zealand children.

The Government will re-consider the targets as part of the New Zealand Health Strategy.

The Government is committed to funding Plunket Line 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The HFA must work closely with the Ministry of Health to resolve immediately any outstanding issues with the current Plunket Line service, robustly cost the expansion of Plunket Line and develop an implementation plan to be considered and approved by the Minister of Health.

Young people’s health

A comprehensive strategy for improving young people’s health is to be developed. The HFA should work with the