4 Oct 2018

Māori have record numbers of serious injuries

8:15 pm on 4 October 2018

Statistics New Zealand has revealed Māori have record high numbers of serious non-fatal injuries from assault and motor vehicle crashes.

Government injury information manager James Clarke said there had been an increase in serious injuries in the last few years but rates were much greater for Māori.

The overall rate of serious non-fatal injuries for Māori in 2017 was 208.1 injuries per 100,000 people - compared to 205.3 for the total population.

In vehicle crashes Māori suffered 67.8 injuries per 100,000 people - 67 percent higher than the rate for the total population.

Māori also had 37.0 serious assault per 100,000 people - compared to 12.0 for the general population.

Serious non-fatal injuries are those in which a patient admitted to hospital is determined to have a probability of death of 6.9 percent or more injuries.