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Health nationalism in Aotearoa New Zealand during COVID-19: problems for global health equity

Nature Medicine volume 29, pages 1887–1889 (2023)Cite this article

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By the late 1800s, most non-Indigenous New Zealanders regarded themselves as members of a new nation with an emerging national identity founded in sporting achievement and war service. A period of cultural nationalism followed that was constructed by efforts to establish a thriving local art and literary culture that broke with British cultural traditions. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, New Zealand had among the highest composite metrics of nationalism3. New Zealand’s newest period of nationalism is characterized by an increased acknowledgement of biculturalism and the Treaty of Waitangi as the country’s founding document. However, this ‘new nationalism’ has features of an insular worldview that frames the non-New Zealand world as an outgroup, focuses on matters within national borders, and questions the value of outside views and expertise.

The New Zealand health sector seeks to achieve better health for all New Zealanders and the unrealized goal of national health equity. Although there is an appropriate emphasis on better health outcomes for Māori, Pacific peoples, and rural New Zealanders, there is little recognition of global health inequities. The New Zealand Health Research Council prioritizes investments in ‘the health of New Zealanders’4. Even national strategies to address global health problems such as antimicrobial resistance focus exclusively on domestic measures, ignoring international cooperation as an essential component of an evidence-based trans-national response5.

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Fig. 1: Consequences for cosmopolitanism of New Zealand’s liberal nationalist COVID-19 policies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for International Health, Division of Health Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    John A. Crump & Philip C. Hill

  2. Otago Global Health Institute, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    John A. Crump, Patrick Vakaoti, Lena Tan, Christina R. Ergler, Elizabeth Fenton, Philip J. Bremer, Katrina J. Sharples, Tony Walls, Miguel E. Quiñones-Mateu, Jacqui Hadingham, Philip C. Hill & Stephen Knowles

  3. Te Tumu – School of Māori, Pacific, and Indigenous Studies, Division of Humanities, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Patrick Vakaoti

  4. English Literature Programme, School of English, Film, Theatre, Media and Communication, and Art History, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

    Michael Moore-Jones

  5. Politics Programme, Division of Humanities, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Lena Tan

  6. School of Geography, Division of Humanities, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Christina R. Ergler

  7. Bioethics Centre, Dunedin School of Medicine, Division of Health Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Elizabeth Fenton & Emma M. R. Anderson

  8. Department of Food Science, Division of Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Philip J. Bremer

  9. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Division of Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Katrina J. Sharples

  10. Department of Paediatrics, Division of Health Sciences, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Tony Walls

  11. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Biomedical Sciences, Division of Health Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Miguel E. Quiñones-Mateu

  12. COMPASS Research Centre and Public Policy Institute, Faculty of Arts, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Komathi Kolandai

  13. Department of Economics, Otago Business School, Division of Commerce, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Stephen Knowles

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  1. John A. Crump
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Correspondence to John A. Crump.

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Crump, J.A., Vakaoti, P., Moore-Jones, M. et al. Health nationalism in Aotearoa New Zealand during COVID-19: problems for global health equity. Nat Med 29, 1887–1889 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-023-02436-y

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