The pandemic’s impact on lung cancer diagnoses for Māori

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-06-10 00:01

New Zealand

PHOTO: Hush Naidoo Jade Photography/Unsplash

Lung cancer diagnoses dropped among Māori in 2020 compared to non-Māori and non-Pacific groups. Procedures to diagnose the cancer also abruptly dropped across the board, but to a greater extent for Māori. The research team calls for better monitoring of the pathways in which Māori patients with symptoms of lung cancer may enter the healthcare system, as these may be where most inequities occur - not just in the context of Covid-19.

Media release

From: New Zealand Medical Association (NZMA)

Te Aho o Te Kahu – Cancer Control Agency has been monitoring the impact of COVID-19 on access to cancer
services since the start of the pandemic. New Zealand has largely avoided the substantial impacts on cancer
services witnessed in other countries, and there has been little evidence that the pandemic has
disproportionately impacted access to cancer services for Māori relative to non-Māori. However, in this Te
Aho o Te Kahu-led investigation, we show that rates of lung cancer registration reduced for Māori (but not
non-Māori/non-Pacific) New Zealanders in 2020 compared to 2018 and 2019. There was no discernible shift
in the distribution of stage at diagnosis over this period. We also found a trend toward a reduction in rates of
bronchoscopy for both Māori and non-Māori/non-Pacific patients, with the largest reduction observed for
Māori.

Journal/
conference: New Zealand Medical Journal

Organisation/s: University of Otago, Te Aho o Te Kahu – Cancer Control Agency; Counties-Manukau District Health Board; Southern District Health Board; Auckland District Health Board; Northland District Health Board

Funder: Te Aho o Te Kahu – Cancer Control Agency

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