Manatū Hauora has established a framework for developing a Pacific evidence base for COVID-19. As part of this, Manatū Hauora Pacific Health team commissioned a group of health researchers in November 2020 to undertake a research project to investigate:
- the characteristics and outcomes of Pacific COVID-19 cases
- the pattern of spread of the virus to Pacific contacts
- the effectiveness of contact tracing for Pacific people, compared with other ethnic groups.
The research methodology included extracting non-identifiable individual-level data relating to confirmed cases and contacts from the EpiSurv (National Surveillance database) and the National Contact Tracing Solution (NCTS) database between August 2020 and March 2021.
The research findings are strongly aligned to achieving the vision of the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022 and provide insights into ways of improving the health system’s data collection and reporting processes, particularly from a Pacific health equity perspective.
