Transcript
New Zealand research shows the genetic make up of Pacific people affects how they respond to different diseases but modern medicine is yet to catch up.
The majority of research medicine is conducted in Europe and North America and then trialled on local patients.
A geneticist at Wellington's Victoria University, Geoff Chambers, says the genetic structure of a person impacts how and what diseases the body reacts to.
He told Daniela Maoate-Cox many treatments have been developed without this difference in mind.
GEOFF CHAMBERS: We have to be aware that their genetics and their gene pool and their responses to medicines may be different from the Europeans for whom they were developed. So we need to have a proper domestic approach to medicines and new medications. So smoking cessation is a really good idea, so you go to the doctor and you get a nicotine patch. Nicotine is not the addictive substance in smoking, it's things that the body makes out of nicotine and it turns out that many Maori and Pacific people are slow metabolisers of nicotine.
DANIELA MAOATE-COX: Compared to other ethnicities?
GC: Compared to most Europeans. So this is a one size does not fit all experience, you get a patch from your doctor and you just don't get a big enough dose in the case of many Maori and Pacific people. So you have patches and they don't work, your doctor winds up blaming the patient, saying 'you didn't try, you're still smoking, I gave you the best medication', but in reality they need to have a much larger dose. It's a really good example of how smart cures developed for one population don't necessarily deliver the benefits to the others.
DM-C: Where are the treatments for smoking developed?
GC: Mostly, things like nicotine replacement therapies and nicotine chewing gum in Europe or North America. So they're tested on European people, occasionally on people with African heritage in North America or some Orientals because they've got large enough populations in North America to test them on different ethnic groups but they're not tested on Austronesian populations which are the source populations for Pacific and Maori people.
DM-C: In New Zealand, Pasifika and Maori people are consistently featuring in the stats for poor smoking habits, could the treatments be contributing to this in any way?
GC: Yeah there are two issues, one is, what is it that makes people start smoking in the first place? And that's largely environmental, peer pressure, and examples from people around them. Then there's how do you give up? Well you only give up if you've got good support and good medication. The suggestion we're making is that there are probably better medical routes that would be available but that's not just for smoking. There's all sorts of different medications which may need to be fine tuned for Maori and Pacific. It's not just Maori and Pacific, they're part of a much larger group of people, a group of Austronesians and there are 350 million of those world-wide so that's actually a considerable pressure group to get some leverage on improved medication for all those people. Things we do benefit people in Malaysia and Indonesia, research carried out there will benefit Pacific and Maori.
Geoff Chambers says it is up to the next generation of Pasifika expand the research and develop effective treatments for Pasifika.
