The Rural Health Strategy was published by the Ministry of Health on 12 July 2023. Rural Health Strategy | Ministry of Health NZ The Rural Health Strategy has been released with the suite including the other five health strategies mandated under the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022: New Zealand Health Strategy, Hauora Māori Strategy, Pacific Health Strategy, Health of Disabled People Strategy, and Women’s Health Strategy.

The Rural Health Strategy was developed with support and engagement from people within the health sector and key stakeholders within rural communities.

The Rural Health Strategy sets the direction for improving the health and wellbeing of rural communities over the next 10 years, through five priorities. The strategy also provides context around the wider determinants in rural communities and an initial assessment of rural health outcomes. There are still many gaps around reporting and monitoring outcomes for rural communities for health agencies to work on further.  Any queries related to the Rural Health Strategy, or the other strategies, can be made to the Ministry of Health: strategies@health.govt.nz

The Health and Independence Report 2022 has also been published by the Ministry of Health, as supporting material for the health strategies. Health and Independence Report 2022 | Ministry of Health NZ

The data released with this report includes data for some rural breakdowns using the Geographic Classification for Health. The user-friendly version for downloading the data appendix is published here: GitHub – minhealthnz/health-and-independence-report: Supplementary and supporting data for the Health and Independence Report

The data appendix includes some data for rural communities from the New Zealand Health Survey (from 2021/22, with some back to 2013/14), Mortality rates, percentages not enrolled in primary care, median drive times to enrolled practices, and enrolment in practices within the Very Low Cost Access Scheme.