Commentary by Melissa McLeod et al. Vol. 44, Issue 4. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.
July 6, 2020.
As New Zealand's cases of COVID‐19 rapidly rose, a national state of emergency was declared and the country placed in shutdown in an effort to achieve disease elimination.1 However, a looming crisis of Māori (Indigenous peoples of New Zealand) health and equity appeared to have had little attention from decision‐makers should our elimination strategy fail. There is major concern among those working in Māori health about the disproportionately negative impact a COVID‐19 pandemic is likely to have on Māori communities in the event of widespread illness – concerns that are relevant to Indigenous communities globally. In this paper we discuss risk to Māori and the need to consider Māori health equity in all levels of decision‐making and in all strategies aimed at mitigating the impact of an overwhelming COVID‐19 outbreak. The themes within this call to action are immediately transferable to other future pandemic crises and to the underlying and longstanding crisis of embedded ethnic health inequities for Indigenous peoples.
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