New Zealand medical students urge voters to make health a priority this election

November 22, 2011

As the future of the medical workforce, the New Zealand Medical Students’ Association (NZMSA) is urging voters to make health policy a priority in their election choice.

NZMSA president Michael Chen-Xu says a sustainable workforce, evidence based health policies and health equity are the key to improving the future of New Zealand.

“We are facing a rise in the cost of health services because of an ageing population, emerging obesity and diabetes epidemics, and the increase of promising but expensive medical interventions.”

“Health workforce sustainability is critical if New Zealanders want the same access to healthcare in the future as they have now. They must consider the health policies of whichever party they decide to vote for,” says Mr Chen-Xu.

The NZMSA supports the Voluntary Bonding Scheme for health graduates, the Government’s commitment to increase medical student places, and the focus on innovative ways of responding to the increasing demand for health services, as a way of ensuring the short to medium term sustainability of the health workforce.

But Mr Chen-Xu says the only way to reduce health care demands in the long term will be to also address the social determinants of health, such as housing, nutrition, access to healthcare and income inequalities. This view is supported by the New Zealand Medical Association’s recent statement on health equities.

Research by Sir Michael Marmot, in a ground-breaking report on the social determinants of health entitled ‘Closing the gap in a generation’, has shown that addressing social determinants are not only sound social policies that improve health outcomes – they also improve economic indicators.

Mr Chen-Xu welcomes the recent Government moves to address child health and poverty with the release of the Green Paper on vulnerable children and the commitment to the provision of free healthcare for under 6 year olds, but he says further actions must be taken to address these issues effectively.

The NZMSA is the peak representative body for New Zealand medical students; we champion the interests of medical students – New Zealand’s future health professionals –leading up to this election and beyond.

ENDS

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