Release MAPAS review and let the public judge for themselves, says Pacific health leader

Auckland University professor Sir Collin Tukuitonga is calling for the release of an independent review of the Māori and Pacific Admissions Scheme (MAPAS) as ACT pushes for the programme to be scrapped.

Tukuitonga says the review has reportedly backed the scheme and should be made public so New Zealanders can judge the evidence for themselves.

“Release the damn report,” he told Pacific Mornings host William Terite.

The call comes after ACT Party leader David Seymour labelled the scheme racist and argued that medical school places should be based on academic merit rather than race.

Seymour has previously questioned whether the scheme leads to better health outcomes for Māori and Pacific communities.

“Do these graduates go out and actually help people who are Māori and Pacific with health needs? And number three, does that lead to better outcomes?

“Because if, for example, you have someone who gets in through one of these schemes and then moves to Australia, well, they might meet some Māori and Pacific people over there, but that's not really what we did it for.”

MAPAS is designed to increase the number of Māori and Pacific students entering medicine and other health professions.

The review was commissioned by the Government to examine MAPAS and the University of Otago's equivalent programme, Te Kauae Parāoa, and whether they are delivering their intended outcomes.

The report has been completed but has not yet been publicly released.

Tukuitonga says the scheme has helped increase the number of Māori and Pacific doctors since it began in the 1970s.

He says it has also helped address long-standing health inequalities.

“Less than five per cent of doctors are Māori. It should be at least double that, three times that.”

He says the benefits go beyond the numbers.

“The other thing we know is that Māori doctors stay at home, Pasifika doctors stay at home. They don't go overseas to Australia, to the UK like their peers.

“They tend to work in their communities, to go home to work with whānau.”

Tukuitonga says that is already being seen among Pacific doctors working in South Auckland.

“In other words, there is a clear and demonstrable benefit from the work of MAPAS.”

He rejects the argument that targeted admissions mean academic standards are being lowered.

“Yes, he or she has to have the marks, no question. They need to withstand the academic rigor and demands, no question.”

But he says becoming a good doctor involves more than grades. “We want good human beings who make good doctors.”

The Māori and Pacific Admission Scheme (MAPAS) is a vital part of the Vision 20:20 initiative. Photo/University of Auckland

He says Auckland University's selection process also looks at a student's attitude, understanding of inequities and ability to care for others.

Tukuitonga also rejects the idea that MAPAS should only exist as a short-term measure. “When you say temporary, this is the long-term solution.”

He says New Zealand still has a long way to go before its health workforce reflects the communities it serves.

If MAPAS were scrapped, he says Māori and Pacific communities would lose doctors who are more likely to return home and work in primary care.

“We lose the graduates who are Māori and Pacific, we lose the people who are more likely to go and work in their communities, we lose people who are more likely to work in primary care.”

Tukuitonga says the debate is bigger than one university programme.

Watch Sir Collin Tukuitonga's full interview below.

He says the argument over MAPAS has become political particularly in an election year and warns of the impact on students and Pacific communities.

“The facts are very clear. That's why we keep asking for the report to be released because we are confident that MAPAS is delivering what it is that we want to deliver for our country.”

The debate over MAPAS comes as Aotearoa continues to face gaps in its Māori and Pacific health workforce.