Travel costs a barrier for Māori in need of liver cancer treatment w/ Jason Gurney: August 15, 2022

Māori are currently 31% more likely to die from liver cancer than non-Māori with the same diagnosis, but covering the travel costs associated with liver cancer surgery could help close this disparity.

Researchers analysed the distance travelled by Māori and Pākehā patients to receive their first primary surgery for liver cancer and found that on average, Māori liver cancer patients travelled twice as far than their Pākehā counterparts.

Joe spoke to Jason Gurney, from the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago, about how travel costs being are a barrier for Māori in need of liver cancer treatment.