Bowel cancer screening: Another callous, cruel Government decision that hurts Māori, Pasifika - Shane Te Pou

THREE KEY FACTS

• Health Minister Simeon Brown has announced lowering the screening age for bowel cancer from 60 to 58 for all Kiwis and canning plans to lower the age for Māori and Pacific men to 50.
• The announcement has drawn the ire of those dedicated to fighting the disease, given Christopher Luxon’s campaign promise to match Australia’s for bowel cancer screening protocol.
• NZ has one of the highest rates of bowel cancer in the world - more than 3000 people are diagnosed each year and more than 1200 will die from the disease.

The last couple of years have been tough for our hapū.

When our mother passed in her 80s, we were, of course, sad, but Mum lived a good, long life. In the last two years though I’ve lost a sister, a brother and cousins who have died far too young.

Our culture helps us to recognise that death is a part of the cycle of life. But I am tired of burying my people before their time.

Here in Aotearoa, there’s an undeniable truth: compared to non-Māori, Māori die younger. The headstones at our urupa remind me of this every time I visit.

It is against this backdrop that we need to face Health Minister Simeon Brown’s decision to reject a lower bowel screening age for Māori and Pasifika.

Bowel cancer, also known as colorectal cancer, is a major health issue in New Zealand, especially affecting our Māori communities. Māori are diagnosed with bowel cancer more often and at a younger age than non-Māori. Most Māori who will get bowel cancer are diagnosed before age 60, compared to only a third of non-Māori. Māori experience higher mortality rates from bowel cancer, largely due to later diagnoses and challenges in accessing healthcare.

What we know works is screening. It’s the best bet for catching cancers early enough to successfully treat them.

So it’s hard to believe that this Government has stopped the successful pilot programme of bowel screening for Māori and Pasifika aged over 50 and diverted the funding that Labour had allocated to roll out that 50+ screening for all Māori and Pasifika. Instead, the money will be used to lower the age for everyone from 60 to 58.

When Brown says that his decision to lower the bowel screening age for all people to 58 will save lives, he’s using a sleight of hand.

Yes, more lives will be saved than screening at 60, but even more lives would be saved if he had followed the advice of the health experts and lowered the screening age for Māori and Pasifika to 50. Even just lowering the Māori and Pasifika age to 56 - as his health advisers recommended - would have saved an additional 111 lives.

It’s not even a funding issue – Brown’s plan means there will be unused funding, which could have paid for lowering the Māori and Pasifika age. He just didn’t want to.

It’s frankly bizarre that a Minister of Health is inserting himself in what should be a decision for health professionals.

It’s truthfully heartbreaking that he decided to save fewer Māori lives when the funding was there.

How can our Minister of Health decide to underspend the money allocated for lowering bowel screening ages, rather than follow the health experts’ advice and reduce the age for Māori and Pasifika men to 56, when he knows that would save lives by targeting at-risk groups?

This was literally a case of having the opportunity to ensure that health funding was allocated on the basis of need - as National promised it would be. And they didn’t do it.

It’s callous. It’s cruel. And Māori seem to be on the receiving end more often than not.

As National’s polling has collapsed over the past six months, the Government’s defenders have said that it’s down to bad comms, or that we just need to get to know Christopher Luxon better.

No. It’s not what they say - it’s what they do.

Whether it’s removing the living wage requirement for cleaners and security guards employed by government agencies, cancelling the ferries, downsizing hospitals, replacing school lunches with cut-price slop, canning state house builds, cutting disability support, or choosing to save some money rather than save Māori lives, it’s the Government’s actions that are losing them support.

Nobody is against getting rid of genuine inefficient spending. Any organisation needs to do that. But this petty, thoughtless, mean stuff isn’t about smart spending.

It’s callous. It’s cruel. And Māori seem to be on the receiving end more often than not.

It is not asking for special treatment to request that the Government follow the advice of experts and prioritise health funding at the demographics who are most at risk. It’s just common sense.

You have to go out of your way, be willing to cut your nose to spite your face, to oppose targeting bowel screening for those most at risk of early bowel cancer.

Do the right thing, Minister Brown. Lower the bowel screening age for Māori and Pasifika. Then families like mine won’t have to bury so many of our whānau before their time.