Kate Hawkesby

So instead, Pharmac are changing the clinical criteria, so around 10,000 more people overall will qualify.

But this is actually a positive thing.

No discrimination, more access, nobody loses anything.

That's what I can't understand.

So the criteria for medicine is the criteria, not race.

So if you meet the criteria, you get the medicine.

It doesn't matter whether you're a man or a woman or a Maori or not.

What's not to understand about that?

Well, the confusion is that there's this study that's come out, been published by Waikato, actually published in a journal, but from some Waikato academics.

And, you know, I always remind people that Waikato gave us Jacinda Ardern, but putting that aside, you know, the issue that they're raising is,

is that when people were given automatically these medicines as Māori or Pacific, the preventative effect of diabetes was stronger than for non-Māori or non-Pacific.

However, if you're a doctor and you've got a patient in front of you,

then you should work out what is the chance of this person.

And it's true because Maori and Pacific do have genetic predispositions to diabetes.

I just think that it should be the same cost for any patient if your doctor says you need it.

Yeah, I just don't understand it.

Why are you consulting?

What are you consulting about?

Why are you just doing it?

We, in fairness, are only consulting for a couple of weeks, but I do actually think it's important.