A researcher says she is shocked to find that Maori children are 23 times more likely to be hospitalised with acute rheumatic fever than non-Maori.
Otago University has compiled a report, commissioned by the Ministry of Health, into the health of Maori children and young people.
Rheumatic fever is an inflammatory disease that develops from a sore throat and can lead to permanent heart damage.
The report's co-author, associate professor Jo Baxter, says any statistics that show a 23-times greater difference are pretty shocking, given we all live in the same country.
But she says, perhaps more shocking, are the figures which show rheumatic fever rates are not going down, they are going up.
