The New Zealand medical journal
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Comparative Study
Rural general practitioner perspectives of the needs of Māori patients requiring palliative care.
We aimed to identify rural general practitioners perspectives of the needs of Māori patients receiving palliative care and to discover what actions the general practitioners had undertaken to meet these needs. ⋯ It appeared that there was great variation in the demand for palliative care services for Māori. Some rural general practitioners rarely encounter Māori patients whilst for others caring for Māori who are in need of palliative care is an important part of their practice. There is some demand from general practice for cultural competency training and support from Māori providers and Māori services in District Health Boards. Further research in this area would be valuable.
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To phase out sales of cigarettes and of smoking tobacco products in New Zealand by the year 2020. ⋯ The smoking of tobacco sold legally kills 5000 New Zealanders annually. The SFE Act can be amended to phase out legal sales within this decade. Intensive policy research is needed now as public interest increases. Support from the public and from legislators to promote a suitable amendment bill is now needed.