Implementing the New Zealand Health Strategy 2001

Implementing the New Zealand Health Strategy 2001
Date of publication: December 2001

Under the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000, the Minister of Health is required to report annually on progress in implementing the New Zealand Health Strategy (NZHS). Implementing the New Zealand Health Strategy 2001 is the first of these annual reports.

The New Zealand Health Strategy provides the framework within which the health sector should develop in the short to medium term. Given the importance of the Strategy to the health sector, a number of supporting strategies and action plans are being produced to ensure that its aims are achieved. Many of these strategies and plans are acknowledged within this report. A comprehensive overview of the health sector, including health sector statistics, is provided in the Health and Independence Report (Ministry of Health 2001a), the Director-General of Health’s annual report to Parliament.

The New Zealand Health Strategy has been in place for less than a year. District Health Boards (DHBs), which will be the main agents to address the priorities of the NZHS, have been in existence for an even shorter period. For these reasons Implementing the New Zealand Health Strategy 2001 highlights initiatives that have been taken since the launch of the NZHS, as well as those ongoing initiatives that had begun before the completion of the NZHS but which will have a significant impact on the priority population health objectives. The inclusion of initiatives that have been under way for some time will ensure that they fit in with the direction set by the NZHS.

The New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000 outlines the responsibilities of DHBs and the health sector in relation to Maori. These responsibilities reflect the Crown’s overall partnership with Maori under the Treaty of Waitangi. The Act has established a range of measures to further the Crown’s desire for greater participation by Maori in the health and disability sector, with a view to improving Maori health outcomes and reducing health disparities between Maori and other population groups (Ministry of Health 2001b). The Ministry of Health and DHBs are expected to act in accordance with these requirements.

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