This essay will explore the relationship between the Treaty of Waitangi (ToW) and the inequities in type II diabetes between Māori and non-Māori. It is evident that disparities such as quality of care and access to care can be linked to the three breaches in articles under the Māori version of the ToW. To demonstrate the inequities in diabetes the 1852 New Zealand Constitution Act, 1907 The Tohunga Suppression Act, Orewa Speech and an overview of the treaty breaches will be used to create a causal link using the Williams model as a guide. The Nursing Council of New Zealand guide will be used to demonstrate the incorporation of the ToW principles into a framework to address inequities between Māori and non-Māori.
PART A
Diabetes …show more content…
At present, there is no cure for type II diabetes, though keeping blood sugar level constant is considered treatment. This involves losing weight, maintaining a healthy diet and exercising. Untreated type II diabetes can lead to other health problems, such as eye disease, kidney failure, cardiovascular disease and foot ulceration. However, the majority of these deaths are preventable. Further, Kahukura (2010) states that type II diabetes is two times more prevalent in Māori than in non-Māori. An example of a disparity in complications from type II diabetes between Māori and non-Māori is evidently seen in renal failure. This report found that Māori are 2.8 times more likely to suffer from renal failure than non-Māori. Additionally, lower limb amputations in Māori were 1.7 times higher than non-Māori. According to the Ministry of Health (2015), diabetes is listed as the 3rd cause of death in Māori men and the 5th cause of death in Māori women, yet diabetes did not feature in the top five causes of death for non-Māori. Also, when years of life lost was taken into consideration, diabetes was the 5th cause of death for Māori men. Robson and Harris (2007) emphasises that ethnic inequities in access and quality of care contribute greatly to the rate of mortality …show more content…
In the Māori version, Māori leaders gave the queen te kawanatanga katoa over their whenua compared English version of sovereignty. The Ministry of Culture and History (2016) embassies the breach under this article as the 1852 New Zealand Constitution Act. This act was fundamentally flawed as it directly prohibited Māori men from voting in the elections. Under this law, it stated that Māori were allowed to vote if the property was owned individually rather than communally. Despite this, very few Māori men owned individual land as under Māori worldview land was communally owned through iwi, hapu or whanau. Consequently, only one hundred Māori men voted in 1,853 out of an electorate of 5,849. Linking Māori men’s inability to vote to type II diabetes fundamentally starts with racism. Europeans settlers were concerned Māori were not civilised enough to exercise their right to vote. Hence, Māori were given less control over their whenua, a direct breach under the Māori version. According to Williams and Mohammed (2013), Māori inability to control legislation meant that these policies were not likely to benefit Māori resulting in an unfair resource allocation between non-Māori and Māori. As a result of this unfair allocation between ethnic groups, it’s probable that it has contributed to the high proportion of Māori living in low socio-economic areas. As a final point, low