Pacific communities missing from NZ’s respiratory warning systems, study finds

The communities carrying some of New Zealand's highest rates of respiratory illness are among those least visible in the systems designed to warn health authorities when illness starts spreading.

New research has found Pacific people have been consistently underrepresented in Aotearoa’s community respiratory surveillance.

The data raises concerns about whether outbreaks in these communities are being picked up early enough.

The study, published in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, looked at FluTracking and the national general practitioner (GP) respiratory surveillance network between 2018 and 2024.

By 2024, FluTracking was capturing less than one-third of the Pacific participation researchers expected, with an average shortfall of about 4674 Pasifika each year.

Papali'i Dr Debbie Ryan, a study co-author at Pacific Perspectives, says surveillance is important because it gives health authorities an early warning when illness is spreading.

Watch Dr Debbie Ryan's full interview below.

“Surveillance is an early warning system that tells us where there is illness in the community,” she told William Terite on Pacific Mornings. “This means public health action can go in early.”

But Papali'i says Pacific communities are not properly represented across more than one surveillance system. This means the gap, “the blind spots are reinforcing each other”.

Counties Manukau is home to 38.5 per cent of New Zealand’s Pacific population, but accounted for just 24.5 per cent of Pacific FluTracking participants.

FluTracking helped health authorities monitor respiratory illness in the community, but Pacific participation remained well below expected levels. Photo/PHF Science, NZ

Only two of the 77 GP practices involved in the separate respiratory surveillance network were in Counties Manukau.

Papali'i says the study can not explain why participation is lower in South Auckland, but relying on people to volunteer is not enough to ensure the data reflects the communities most affected.

“We know that large Pacific populations live in South Auckland. There are high levels of respiratory illness in this community,” she says.

“If we see that the general practices in a community are most under pressure, then actually we need to put more resources in there because we need the community surveillance system to work for everyone.”

The study also found Pacific people living in the most deprived communities were less visible in FluTracking.

While an estimated 55.8 per cent of Pasifika live in the most deprived areas, only about 37 per cent of Pacific FluTracking participants came from those communities.

Counties Manukau is home to a large share of New Zealand’s Pacific population but was underrepresented in Pacific FluTracking participation. Photo/eastcare.co.nz

That matters because the Ministry of Health ended its FluTracking contract in December 2025, saying other sources such as Healthline, general practitioner (GP), hospital and laboratory data could provide similar information.

Papali'i says those remaining systems now need to be checked to make sure they are capturing Pacific communities properly.

“How well are these other systems working so that we can be confident that early illness in Pacific communities will be picked up?” she says.

Dr Gerard Sonder, another study co-author, says the decline in Pacific participation in FluTracking was likely linked to a lack of active recruitment.

He told PMN News that GP practices in areas with high levels of respiratory illness may also have less capacity to take part.

“If the burden of disease is highest on those clinics, it's also likely that they have at least a space to participate in surveillance.”

Dr Gerard Sonder, co-author of new research into Pacific representation in respiratory illness surveillance. Photo/Pacific Perspectives

Sonder says having several surveillance systems increases the chance of detecting an outbreak, but ending one system does not fix the wider problem of who is represented in the data.

The researchers are calling for regular checks of ethnic, geographic and socioeconomic representation, along with more GP practices in Pacific-heavy areas such as Counties Manukau and Waitematā.

They also want health authorities to work directly with Pacific health providers and organisations to improve participation.

The warning comes as health services face ongoing pressure from respiratory illness, with the Cardiac and Respiratory Foundation NZ urging people not to delay seeking urgent care because of concerns about long emergency department waits.

The Foundation says people experiencing heart attack symptoms should call 111 or go to their nearest emergency department immediately.

PMN News has contacted the Ministry of Health for comment.