Trail-Blazing Mahi By Māori Health Pioneers Forges A Path For Equity

TAURANGA, 20 June 2022: The extraordinary legacy of Te Moana a Toi’s Māori Health Rūnanga will be acknowledged at a commemoration event this week in Tauranga.

Occupying a unique place in our health system, the Rūnanga is the only multi-iwi Māori organisation working alongside a Crown health entity as an equal Te Tiriti partner.

Māori Health Rūnanga Chair, Linda Steel, says the Rūnanga has had a pivotal role in providing strategic direction to improve health outcomes for Māori in the rohe.

“From our earliest roots with the establishment of the Te Whānau Poutirirangi–ora-a-papa and Poutiri Trust in 1997 and then the Rūnanga itself a few years later, we have been driven to create intergenerational change which addresses the profound inequity facing our Te Moana a Toi whānau within the health system,” she says.

Next month the Rūnanga will be replaced with one of several Iwi-Māori Partnership Boards (IMPB) spread throughout the country to provide region-specific advice to the new Māori Health Authority as part of the latest health system restructure intended to address poor outcomes for Māori health.

“As the Rūnanga transitions to the IMPB it’s vital that we take the opportunity to acknowledge and honour the ahikā, kuia, koroua, rangatira at the grass roots level of whānau, hapū, iwi who have worked so hard to affect the vision of Tino Rangatiratanga in Māori health for ngā iwi o Te Moana a Toi,” says Steel.

“This has been a first in Aotearoa and may the vision, values and treaty-based principles firmly established by this rōpū, lay the foundation for Iwi-Māori partnerships going forward.”

Dr Bev Edlin, Chairperson of the BOPDHB says the Rūnanga has been instrumental in raising health outcomes for whānau in Te Moana a Toi.

“The Rūnanga has provided a key link to enable Māori to contribute to decision-making, participate in the planning and delivery of health and disability services as well as providing an effective forum for consultation and engagement with whānau, hapu and Iwi,” she says.

“The constructive relationship we enjoy with the Rūnanga demonstrates our commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi principles; their valuable mahi illustrates the critical role Māori must play in determining their own aspirations and priorities for health,” says Edlin.

Past members of the Rūnanga and other honoured guests will be welcomed onto Hungahungatoroa Marae in Matapihi this Thursday June 23rd to celebrate and reflect on the many milestones and achievements of the Rūnanga.

Linda Steel says the day will highlight the pioneers who contributed to Māori health in the region.

“The relationships we have today are entirely due to long years of mahi tahi from a really special group of pakeke. They were true leaders who battled the system and stood proudly against inequity. As we walk down the path that they have forged for us, we honour their bravery, their aroha for our people and their vision for health in Te Moana a Toi,” she says.

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