COVID-19 has shown us how much we rely on each other. It has also shown us that strong health services are critical.
The key to this is quality healthcare provided by a publicly funded health system. There should be no financial or other barriers to anyone accessing the healthcare services they need. In Aotearoa, not everyone is able to get the treatment they need.
Our health and wellbeing is shaped by the environment we live in and the personal circumstances we experience.
Good personal health relies on the health of whole communities, housing standards, and access to good food.
In Government, we have made progress reducing some of the barriers to healthcare, including providing free or low- cost contraception to women. With greater government support, everyone in Aotearoa will have access to healthcare when they need it, with no barriers.
The Green Party will:
- Increase resources for wellness and preventative health measures, to keep everyone as healthy as possible.
- Increase public health funding to keep pace with need and the growing population.
- Ensure everyone can access healthcare services, regardless of their ability to pay, at the earliest stage possible. This includes working towards providing adequate funding for community-based care.
- Incorporate mātauranga Māori into the health system, and fund provision of primary healthcare through Māori organisations, overseen by a new Māori health agency that focuses on remote areas with significant health disparities.
- Ensure all parents and caregivers have access to free, well-staffed and resourced helplines.
- Uphold the independence and strength of PHARMAC.
- Investigate a levy on sugary drinks to fund affordable dental care.
- Support water-only policies in schools, hospitals, and sports clubs.
- Restrict junk food advertising aimed at children.
- Continue to implement measures to make Aotearoa smoke-free by 2025.
- Ensure communities have influence over public health decisions that affect them.
- Research and plan for the impacts of climate change on health and disease.