6 October 2014

Māori Party welcomes oral health collaboration

The Māori Party welcomes the announcement of an oral health project in the North which is a result of a joint exercise between the Northland District Health Board (DHB) and the New Zealand Defence Force. A team of around 30 New Zealand Defence Force personnel will work with DHB-employed staff to provide oral health and health promotion services at Kaitaia Hospital for community service card holders. The service will operate from the 12th to the 25th October 2014.

“This is a great example of how Government agencies can work better together for the benefit of the communities it serves,” says Co-leader Tariana Turia.

“Over the last two terms of Government I lobbied Ministers Wayne Mapp and Jonathan Coleman to consider using the New Zealand Defence Force in such a capacity. I had been impressed with the great work that the NZ Army Dental Unit undertook in conducting a number of one-off dental clinics at Rātana Pā and along the Whanganui River. It is a matter of great personal satisfaction to me that finally this project is taking off.”

In addition to operating five dental and two dental hygienist chairs over the period, both agencies will work with seven local schools to run a healthy lifestyles programme focusing on oral health care, nutrition and physical activity.

“This collaboration provides Northland DHB with additional resources to work with some of its most deprived and geographically isolated populations, while enabling the New Zealand Defence Force to increase staff training in oral health and health promotion for military exercises in the Pacific. I am pleased that the DHB intends to establish a low-cost dental clinic in Kaitaia after the exercise is completed.”

“This will also support the Better Oral Health services I announced last year as Associate Minister of Health, that focused on preventing tooth decay amongst children and adolescents.”

“The oral health of our families starts when they are young. It is vital that we get the necessary information to our communities in the right way so that they are able to make informed choices about their health and the health of their children. If we want to reduce tooth decay we must continue to actively campaign against foods and drinks with high levels of sugar and particularly the impact of juices and sugary drinks in babies’ bottles,” says Mrs Turia.

The Māori Party launched its health policy during Election 2014 and prioritised oral health. The policy includes an annual health check for low income families and free dental care for all students and community service card holders.

© Scoop Media