Poor turnout of politicians blow for entire rural sector

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This article was first published online on 7 June 2024.

From Barbara: Rural specialist Fiona Bolden is a great advocate for rural health and always looks at the bigger picture. Throughout the year, as Hauora Taiwhenua chair, Dr Bolden has reiterated the message in her regular bulletin that the rural community – the 19 per cent of our population responsible for producing over 80 per cent of trade exports – is suffering dramatically from poor service provision. This is revealed in statistics from the Rural Health New Zealand Snapshot including young Māori living in rural areas are twice as likely to die from a preventable cause as Māori living in a large city