Manukau City Councillor and Counties Manukau District Health Board representative Anae Arthur. Anae has watched the emergence of a Pacific health sector over the past decade. He talks about progress to date and the need to deliver on the sector’s immense potential.
 Anae Arthur
I think we’ve made some huge in-roads over the last ten years. Prior to that I don’t think there was a good appreciation of the problem. I was in Parliament for six years and from my experience as a politician, I think one of the biggest problems is that we’re used to setting health targets on the three-year political cycle. People are criticised for not delivering in three years but you cannot have a health system on a three-year cycle – it needs to be a 20-year plus cycle.
For example, the Let’s Beat Diabetes campaign is a 25-year programme. It’s about managing those who already have it and preventing the younger generation from ending up in the same situation. So the real target is the kids who are between one and five now. It’s about making sure their parents don’t feed them the sort of diet that will be their downfall. How much of a challenge is it going to be to tackle diabetes and obesity in Pacific communities?
Well, it’s not just Pacific communities that are facing these issues. This is something that all Western societies are dealing with. Our generation is killing its children with love. Fifty years ago when I was growing up it was pure luxury to have an ice cream or a piece of fried chicken or sweet drinks. Now people stock their homes with these items. They’re giving it to their kids with the best intentions without realising the damage they’re doing. So, getting away from sugar drinks, getting people to drink water and eat the right foods, getting kids to exercise instead of just watching television or playing video games after school, these are giant culture shifts that we are trying to achieve, which will take time. I believe government will need to explore the possibility of a ‘fat tax’ and a ‘sugar tax’ if we want to make serious impact with what we are doing. That way, if people don’t take heed they will pre-pay their medical condition in advance. Why did you become involved in these issues?
I put myself forward for Council and the Health Board because I have a sense of responsibility for people. Also, as a self-made business-person, I’m not afraid of speaking up. What’s your opinion of the Pacific Provider Development Fund?
The Provider Fund has definitely been a brilliant first step. Now we’ve got providers who know how to communicate with the people who are ill and find out the real problems. We’ve got a system that Pacific people have confidence in. What are the benefits of a Pacific-led approach?
It’s helping to eliminate congestion at hospitals. It is helping to make sure that unnecessary cases don’t go to the emergency wards. But why do we need Pacific providers? Why can’t mainstream services do the job?
That’s a fair question, but what people have to understand is that this is a group of people who, if you provide services in their languages and culture, you’ll get results. And to test that, just ask the mainstream services where they’ve been before. This new approach is the only way to get results. Why is the Pacific-led approach more effective?
It’s what I call directing marketing. You need direct access to people. In Pacific culture, access to people is often through the churches. So we’re using these channels to raise awareness of health issues and provide information about better eating or stopping smoking. Now we can slowly plant the seeds of change. It’s been interesting. When I go along now I hear kids telling their grandparents about what they should and shouldn’t eat, so we’re already having some impact. Are there still issues that need to be addressed?
Many Pacific families still struggle to access health services during normal hours. Many are from one-car families. The breadwinner has the car at work so transport is an issue for the others. If you’re working in a factory, you can’t just take time off during the day or you might lose your job. So many people are really restricted about what they can do during work hours. The only real time they have is after-hours. What we don’t want is to put people off so it compounds their health problems and they end up at the hospital. That’s why I think it’s going to be much cheaper to invest more into after-hours services. We need to ensure we make it easy and stress-free for people to access health services. You’re in business yourself. Do you think there’s a Pacific way of running a business?
Yes, I do. It’s from the heart. They’re your people and you feel responsible for them. You will chase to the end to make sure they get the help they need. Pacific providers offer a holistic service. It’s more than a transaction. Are there enough Pacific health workers and providers to cope?
That’s the biggest problem. We’ve got to make our kids at school realise that there is a future working in the health sector. Everyone just thinks of doctors and nurses when they think of health. But there are far more opportunities in the health sector than that. So our young people need to be told about other roles. We’re working on developing career pathways but one of the challenges is to make our people believe they can achieve, that they can be doctors and health administrators. It’s also about status and people’s perceptions of careers. Convincing young people is not easy. Young people are easily lured by short-term glory and careers that sound sexy – sports stars, pop stars, movie stars. We’ve got to tell young people that in this community it’s the doctors, the clinicians and the health administrators who are its salvation. To be a real star is to be a contributor to the health needs of our community. Do you have a vision of what’s possible?
I think everything’s possible. I truly believe we will reduce Pacific Island health issues over time as long as we identify the problems and put the funding aside to deal with them. The thing with health is that it is ongoing. Once you’ve resolved something, you can’t stop. For example, we’ve got MeNZBTM under control but if we don’t keep sustaining the effort we’ll go back to square one again. So the name of the game is keep pumping, make sure the young kids keep getting inoculated. You can’t be passive about health issues. What needs to happen next?
I don’t think Pacific people in Counties-Manukau can complain about anything. The government has bent over backwards over the past ten years or so to do everything they can to improve the health situation. Now it’s up to Pacific Islands people and communities to take it on board and make it happen. If our providers and communities can deliver then we can put our hand out for additional funding to make things even better. But you can’t put your hand out for more funding, if you can’t deliver. So my message to Pacific people is: let’s stand up, do the job, evaluate progress and really get behind these efforts.
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Voyages magazine 
