Learning from indigenous people

doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7412.0-f

BMJ 2003;327 (23 August), doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7412.0-f

Editor's choice

Learning from indigenous people

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

"It would have been far better for the New Zealanders as a peopleif they had never seen a European," wrote a missionary, WilliamColenso, in 1865. When James Cook "discovered" New Zealandin 1769 there were estimated to be 200 000 Maori. By 1860 therewere 35 000. Today Maori have a life expectancy about eightyears less than the non-indigenous population. Next month'sAsia Pacific Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care willbe opened in Auckland with a traditional Maori greeting, andthe forum will consider not only how the health of Maori andother indigenous peoples might be improved but also how everybodyin health care can learn from indigenous cultures.

There are some 350 million indigenous people, representing over5000 cultures in 70 countries on every continent. They areancient peoples who found a way to live in harmony with theirenvironment. These "primitive" people . . . [Full text of this article]

Richard Smith, editor

(rsmith@bmj.com)

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