Asians face crisis in health care

Christchurch is sitting on a "time bomb" of neglected Asian health problems, including eating disorders and using abortion as a "form of contraception", local researchers say.

A new report highlights medical issues among the city's Asian community, with sexual health, obesity and addiction among the worst problems.

Christchurch's 27,000-strong Asian population, the second largest ethnic group behind Europeans, had significant health needs but many were not being met, the report said.

Unlike Pacific Island and Maori communities, there were no specific health services for Asian people and other immigrants.

The report's co-author and Partnership Health Canterbury ethnic liaison officer Wayne Reid said the Asian health crisis had snuck up on Christchurch because too many people had "kept their heads in the sand" for too long.

Waitemata in Auckland had looked at the issue in the late 1990s and now had a "marvellous service" for its Asian population.

"We are sitting on a time bomb of rapidly increasing rates of obesity, cardiovascular disease and fatty liver," he said.

A survey of Christchurch's Asian communities and healthcare professionals showed lack of sexual-health education and eating disorders were serious problems, especially among young people not used to the freedom of New Zealand.

Chinese women had the most abortions of any ethnic group but nobody in the survey cited sexual health as an issue and none used sexual-health clinics.

This was mainly because of cultural embarrassment and privacy issues, said Reid.

Many myths existed around the dangers of the pill and Asian males especially Chinese would refuse to wear condoms because they were "not manly".

Abortions, therefore, became a viable form of contraception.

Reid said the lack of knowledge around Asian people's sexual health was "scary".

Asian females also had a high incidence of eating disorders, with doctors reporting very slim women asking for diet pills.

Fear of getting fat on Western food and expectations of Asian men put a lot of pressure on women to retain their figures, the report said.

That many Asians were adopting the Western diet with little or no exercise was also a concern, especially among young people with no cooking skills who relied on fast-food.

"Family violence issues are also increasing dramatically, particularly among Korean families, it's becoming an enormous problem," said Reid.

He blamed the Immigration Department for much of the problem, saying it failed to inform migrants about New Zealand's healthcare system.

Such countries as China and Korea had no primary health services, so telling them to contact a general practitioner was no help as they had no idea what that was and often did not understand English anyway, he said.

Their first port of call was therefore the hospital which clogged up Emergency Departments.

Many also chose to return to their homeland for medical treatment, often waiting for a list of ailments before making the trip.

"The New Zealand Primary Health Care Strategy is failing in its aim of removing inequalities for all New Zealanders," said the report.

"Increasing health funds are being allocated to both Maori and Pacific health.

"However, the increasing number of immigrants to New Zealand face ever greater difficulties in obtaining health services."

 

Doctor Colin Chin said about half of his patients at Doctors on Riccarton were Asian.

Staff at the clinic spoke several languages, allowing Chin to communicate with patients in their native language.

A few years ago he was dealing with about one international student a day who had an unplanned pregnancy.

But that number had reduced.

The report suggested a language-specific description of New Zealand's health service for new immigrants, an Asian Helpline and more Asian support workers in the community.

 

- © Fairfax NZ News