INTERVIEW: Report reflects longstanding issues in Asian communities, says TANI director

The key findings in the ‘Asian Health in Aotearoa 2024’ Report launched last month reflect what we see with  our people in our communities and the issues that our partners and stakeholders across the health sector have been raising for years, explains Vishal Rishi, Director of The Asian Network Inc. (TANI) in this indepth interview.

Q: Can you please tell us a bit about what prompted the commissioning of the report by TANI, how long it took, what it entailed and who was involved?

A: This is not the first time The Asian Network Inc. (TANI) has commissioned extra analysis from the New Zealand Health Survey results. Several times in the past there has been oversampling to enable slightly more nuanced insights into Asian health in Aotearoa. Being able to split the Asian group into the three broad groupings of Chinese, South Asian, and Other Asian, and being able to analyse trends over time has been very valuable. Professor Robert Scragg has been a driving force for the report, and has supported Dr Zhenqiang Wu and Sally Wong to produce this detailed report, which took the better part of a year to compile.

Q: What are some of the key findings in the report, and were there any findings that particularly surprised you and if so, why?

A: The key findings were not particularly surprising, they reflect what we see with our people in our communities and the issues that our partners and stakeholders across the health sector have been raising for years.

One of the issues that has been evolving is the decline of the so-called healthy migrant effect (i.e. migrant health starts to deteriorate, the longer they stay) , as a greater proportion of the Asian populations in Aotearoa have been born and raised here, or lived here for more than 10 years.

We are seeing an acculturation effect, where the local environment and lifestyle, along with the way society is set up in terms of housing, transport, education, and employment, people’s health behaviours adapt to the environment they are living in, especially in terms of physical activity and nutrition outcomes, which flows through to obesity and overweight, which then flows through to cardiovascular outcomes.

Q: How crucial is it now, given the report’s revelation, to get a national Asian health strategy in place?

A: Having a high-level national strategy for Asian Health in Aotearoa is crucial, if we want to address the poor health outcomes and indicators that we are seeing, and even more so if we want to see our communities healthy, thriving, and living our best lives here in Aotearoa.

Alongside a health strategy, we also need an Asian health research strategy, so our highly skilled Asian health researchers can build careers and make Asian health in Aotearoa their research priority, rather than something that is nice to do if they can scrape some discretionary funding together.

There needs to be specific ring-fenced funding, for delivery of services to meet needs, but also for research to help us  better understand how to respond to the needs in our communities.

Q: What are some of the other actionable insights that researchers have identified based on the report?

A: A high-level Asian Health strategy may still be some time away, and may require an amendment of s33 of the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act. In the meantime, there are number of things that can be done through regular service commissioning.

These include co-design and implementation of culturally appropriate services and interventions promoting healthier lifestyles to improve nutrition and physical activity, improving cardiovascular outcomes.

We can increase funding for co-design and intersectoral collaboration, working with non-governmental organisations to develop culturally-safe, tailored, non-stigmatised services for primary and mental health care services.

We can also advocate for anti-racist policies to ensure fair access to resources, and to address systemic discrimination within our institutions. Addressing racism and discrimination in our society and our health services will lower barriers our communities experience to access healthcare.

Q: Much has been said about the healthy immigration effect, following the report’s findings. Can you please explain what this is?

A: The healthy migrant effect is the notion that when people migrate to a new country they are relatively young, educated, and healthy. Their health is usually better than the average health of the local community. But over time this decays, sometimes the new country is set up differently, and the factors that supported and enabled their health in their home country, such as supportive family networks, affordable housing, social standing, may not be accessible in the new country.

Q: As health promoters what can we do in our sphere of influence to help tackle these rising health issues among the Asian community in Aotearoa?

A: As health promoters, we would do well to keep the Ottawa Charter for health promotion in the front of our thinking. Building healthy public policy, creating supportive environments, strengthening community action, developing personal skills, and reorienting health services. We do this through enabling, mediating, and advocating.

In whatever roles we have, we will find opportunities to make improvements to promote health for our communities.

Q: Anything else?

A: In a nutshell, we MUST have courageous, action-oriented conversations with decision makers about these inequalities and how we all collectively can start addressing the same now.

October 16: Webishop 

* Vishal and Dr Zhenqiang Wu, will discuss the findings and explore with participants what health promoters and other health professionals can do to contribute to address the health and wellbeing of the Asian communities in Aotearoa at a webishop on Oct 16. 

This webishop is a joint effort between the Health Promotion Forum (HPF) HPF and The Asian Network Inc. (TANI).

Registration details to be sent out via our social media platforms soon!