Equity by 2030: achieving equity in survival for Māori cancer patients

Māori diagnosed with cancer are more likely to die-and to die sooner-than non-Māori with cancer. If we accept that these inequities are unfair and avoidable, then we need a well-resourced and focused approach to eliminating them for Māori. Closing this gap will require significant action and sustained resourcing; but first, it requires an aspirational objective to enable collective ownership and navigation. At the Cancer Care at a Crossroads conference held in Wellington in early 2019, the wider cancer sector accepted a tabled goal: to achieve equity in cancer survival for Māori by the year 2030. In this viewpoint, we provide rationale for this goal, provide some recommendations for how it might be achieved, and address its likely criticisms.