Latest news with #PasifikaMedicalAssociation
RNZ News
21 hours ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Pasifika Medical Association rejects claims public funds used inappropriately
Pasifika Medical Association group chair Kiki Maoate. Photo: Pasifika Medical Association Group The Pasifika Medical Association (PMA) is rejecting claims that public funds have been used in an inappropriate manner. Te Puni Kōkiri is launching an independent review into allegations that money was used inappropriately for Whānau Ora commissioning services. It relates to allegations of funds misused by two agencies, including Pasifika Futures Limited, where it is alleged that [ Moana Pasifika received $770,000 a year] from a Whānau Ora contract with the Pasifika Medical Association. However, Pasifika Medical Association group chair Kiki Maoate said no public funding has been used to support the professional rugby team. "We strongly reject any claim that public funds have been used in an inappropriate manner," Maoate said. Moana Pasifika became part of the Pasifika Medical Association Group (PMA) on 1 July 2024. At that time, the Moana Pasifika Charitable Trust was formally established to hold both the professional rugby team and the Moana Pasifika Community Sports Programme, Maoate said. "Moana Pasifika has always been more than a rugby team. From the outset, it was established as a platform for social good and long-term transformation for Pacific people. That founding purpose made it a natural strategic fit for PMA, which recognised the opportunity to strengthen and expand Moana Pasifika's reach. With that alignment of values and mission, PMA invested to optimise the organisations positive impact, capability and connection to Pacific communities. "In 2021, a small amount of funding was provided to the Pacific Business Trust to support the development of a business case for the establishment of the Moana Pasifika Charitable Trust. This was consistent with broader support for Pacific-owned and delivered initiatives under the economic domain of Pasifika Futures. "Since that time, any public or Whānau Ora funding has been directed solely to the Moana Pasifika Community Sports Programme. No public funding has been used to support the professional rugby team." the statement from PMA said. RNZ has approached the PMA for further comment. Te Pou Matakana, otherwise known as the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency Limited, is also being investigated after Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka seeked urgent advice on "electioneering concerns". The concerns related to an advertisement encouraging Māori to sign-up to the Māori electoral roll paid for by Te Pou Matakana, which was released this week. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
3 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Rugby: Moana Pasifika owners confident they can continue to bankroll team
Moana Pasifika celebrate beating the Blues during the recent Super Rugby season. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/ The owners of the Moana Pasifika Super Rugby side are confident they can continue to bankroll the team, despite the loss of lucrative government contracts. Pasifika Medical Association Group (PMA) - which bought the franchise last year - is next month set to lose contracts with Whānau Ora through its entity Pasifika Futures. PMA has held the contracts for the past 10 years, but a shake-up of government funding has led to the change. The New Zealand Herald reported PMA's contracts for community health services were worth nearly $45 million, making up over half the organisation's revenue. According to the Herald , over the past few years PMA has used the Whānau Ora contract to bolster Moana Pasifika's finances to the tune of $770,000 a year. However PMA chair Dr Kiki Maoate maintained their "financial position is on track to finish the year ahead of forecast". In a statement, he said "every dollar invested into Moana Pasifika is an investment in the future of Pasifika youth and their families".. "From the beginning, Pasifika Medical Association and Pasifika Futures have supported the establishment of Moana Pasifika, including through our Whānau Ora commissioning where contract outcomes and purpose were aligned… and has been delivered with transparency and care for community outcomes." Dr Kiki Maoate Photo: Pasifika Medical Association Group Moana Pasifika joined the Super Rugby competition in 2022, and this year enjoyed the best results of their four-year tenure, finishing seventh . Maoate said the organisation was reviewing "all funding priorities in line with changing circumstances". "Moana Pasifika is more than a Super Rugby club. It's a celebration of who we are and what we can become. Sport has long been a wave that carries Pasifika people forward into education, enterprise, leadership and community service. "As both a team and a movement, Moana Pasifika exists to lift up our people and strengthen our communities."
RNZ News
02-06-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Depression and anxiety increase dementia risk by 30-40 percent, study finds
Dr Etuini Ma'u, from Auckland University's department of psychological medicine. Photo: Supplied/Pasifika Medical Association Depression and anxiety can lead to a significantly higher risk of dementia later in life, according to new research out of Auckland University. In a briefing from the Public Health Communication Centre, Dr Etuini Ma'u and co-authors from the university's Department of Psychological Medicine report finding common mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety, substantially increase a person's risk of developing dementia. Using data from the New Zealand Health Survey, the researchers followed adults who had reported a diagnosis of depression, anxiety or bipolar disorder to assess their future risk of dementia. The results showed anxiety was linked to a 30 percent higher risk of dementia and depression increased the risk by 40 percent. Bipolar disorder was associated with nearly a threefold increase, psychological distress more than doubled dementia risk and severe distress nearly tripled it. Ma'u, a senior lecturer and consultant psychiatrist, said depression had for a long time been considered a risk factor for dementia, but previously there had not been enough strong evidence to link anxiety, biopolar or psychotic disorders. This study had aimed to "add to that evidence base", Ma'u said. It built on some existing studies - one from 2022, also from the University of Auckland, had found depression elevated dementia risk by three to four times. But that study had looked at people in hospital. "You've kind of self-selected a really severe group of mental disorders and we know that, in a New Zealand setting, most people with depression and anxiety are managed in the community." Ma'u said this research wanted to study a more representative risk for the general population. The Public Health Communication Centre briefing noted anxiety and depression symptoms were on the rise - between 2016 and 2023, the number of New Zealanders reporting symptoms rose by more than half. However, the number of people reporting they could not get the mental health support they needed also rose by 50 percent. As New Zealand's population aged, dementia rates were projected to double by 2050, from an estimated 83,000 cases today to 167,000 by 2050. Ma'u said a "life course" approach was needed - starting in childhood - to reduce the effects of anxiety and depression. "We talk about dementia as being something that affects older people, but what we know is that actually, the cumulative and incremental damage happens to our brain over the course of a lifetime eventually overwhelm our brains' ability to cope, and that's a dementia that we see. "We need to be looking right back to childhood." But change could not come from an individual level, he said. "Effective interventions are going to have to come from a policy and legislative level, so that we can address some of these broader determinants of health." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
