KEY POINTS:
The health system is failing New Zealand's Asian community because it lumps them into a single group and does not address their individual health needs, says a University of Auckland researcher.
Associate Professor Samson Tse says the Asian communities come from far and wide and "are as different as Pakeha to Maori" - but government agencies and NGOs "do not seem to recognise that there are any differences at all".
Statistics New Zealand terms Asia to extend from Pakistan in the west to Japan in the east, including Afghanistan and the Central Asian republics.
"For example, the biggest health issue in the South Asian community is obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular problems but they rarely figure as a priority group in diabetes strategies," he said. "Asian health problems are being identified as a whole and then averaged across the whole Asian category as if they are a single community."
Other Asian communities, such as the Chinese, had a higher risk of getting diet-related cancer, and Koreans were more likely to suffer from mental health issues, he said.
According to the 2006 Census, there are 354,552 people who identified themselves as Asians in New Zealand - with just over 41 per cent of them Chinese, 29 per cent Indian, and 30 per cent of other Asian ethnicities.
Dr Tse says more research is needed to find the reasons behind why communities' health are affected differently but he felt it could be attributed to diet, language ability and the length of time they have been in New Zealand.
"Often, for a migrant, the inability to speak English is not just a matter of inconvenience but also a matter of mental health," he said. "It affects how they integrate, their sense of self worth, and their ability and even confidence to seek the help they need in our complex mental health system."
Dr Tse wants political leaders to review health policies and recognise that different Asian communities have different needs.
He says the findings of new studies to be released by his department, the university's Centre for Asian Health Research and Evaluation, on Asian mental health, lifestyle and service accessibility, will provide useful information and resources to help the Government set policy directions.
Dr Tse says data in the Ministry of Health's Asian Health Chart Book and Asian Network Inc's Asian Health in Aotearoa are just "telling half truths" about Asian health and he also questions the accuracy of surveys such as Statistics New Zealand's Household Economic Survey.
"Most of these surveys show Asians as being generally healthy and wealthy, but this is often not the case when we look at the details."
He says figures showing Asians as being healthier than the general New Zealand population are "a myth" because new migrants, who make up a majority of Asians here, are classed under the same category as local-born Asians.
"Our immigration screening requires new migrants to be in the best state of health, so when they are put together in the same group as the local-born Asians, what we get is just a distorted picture."
Dr Tse says there is a "major gap" between health policies for Asians and other New Zealanders but statistics available since the last election "will make politicians take Asian issues seriously" this time around.
"It would no longer be wise for them to ignore a community which now makes up almost 10 per cent of the population, and who contribute four times more to our economy than those born in New Zealand."
WORRIES VARY
Key health concerns of different Asian groups in New Zealand:
* Indians: Obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular problems.
* Chinese: Diet-related cancer.
* Koreans: Mental health issues.
* Local born: Less healthy than recent migrants.
