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Vision

Our vision is reducing inequalities in health, particularly for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and chronic respiratory disease, through excellent research and collaboration with others in research, policy, health services and the community.

Objectives

The research objectives of the previous Health Inequalities Research Programme (HIRP) all relate to the central theme of capitalising on New Zealand's health data to provide information to influence and support policies and programmes that will reduce inequalities in health. HIRP takes a collaborative approach working closely with others in research, policy, health services and the community.

1. old objectives here

Projects

The projects within our programme are:

The diagram below shows how these projects and our six objectives form a cohesive programme of research. SoFIE-Health covers all of the first four objectives, and is the backbone project for the programme. As an eight-year longitudinal study in the field until 2010, its productivity and quality will improve over the first five years of the programme, then become optimal during the latter years of HIRP.

HIRPdiagram

The three projects funded by the HRC and Cancer Society in 2005 (SoFIE-Primary Care, Unequal Treatment- The Role of Health Services and Differential Colon Cancer Survival by Ethnicity) are focused on the role of health services in producing, and in the future reducing, health inequalities. Kaupapa Māori Research principles are incorporated across the programme, but in varying depths within the projects. They are most strongly reflected in the Unequal Treatment project - a project led by Te Rōpū Rangahau Hauora a Eru Pōmare. Our fifth objective, the determinant of the determinants, is not immediately reflected in any one of our specific empirical projects. However, we place a priority on developing theoretical understandings of how health inequalities arise and are maintained, and wish to maintain and further develop our thinking on these issues.

Funders

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The Health Research Council (HRC) of New Zealand is the principal funder of the programme, and more specifically funds four of the projects: SoFIE-Health, SoFIE-Primary Care, Unequal Treatment - The Role of Health Services and Neighbourhoods and Health. The HRC has also provided funding for the New Zealand Census-Mortality Study (NZCMS) and Social Indicators in their development years.
CancerSocietyNZlogo The Cancer Society of New Zealand has provided funding for the Differential Colon Cancer Survival by Ethnicity in New Zealand project within the programme.
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The Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand (ALAC) has provided important establishment funding for SoFIE-Health.

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Accident Compensation Coroporation (ACC) has provided important establishment funding for SoFIE-Health.

moh_logo The Ministry of Health is both a collaborating and funding institution. They provide the ongoing funding for the New Zealand Census-Mortality Study and Socioeconomic (NZDep) projects, and have also provided funding for the CancerTrends pilot. We also work directly with staff of the Public Health Intelligence group of the Ministry of Health on joint outputs for both policy and research/analyst audiences, e.g. the Decades of Disparity series of reports.
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Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) is an absolutely critical collaborating institution. Six out of the eight projects in our programme could not proceed without access to either census or SoFIE data that is provided by SNZ.

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