Kidney disease: Takutai Moana Natasha Kemp’s death highlights Māori health challenges
Jonah Lomu, Georgina Beyer, Kingi Tuheitia and Takutai Natasha Kemp all passed away with kidney issues. Herald Graphic.
The sudden death of Te Pāti Māori MP Takutai Moana Tarsh Kemp has highlighted kidney disease as a killer - particularly among Māori and Pacific peoples.
When Kemp, 50, passed away last week, she was one of 400 people on the national kidney transplant waiting list.
Other public figures who have suffered from kidney disease include rugby legend Jonah Lomu, Māori King Tuheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII and former Labour MP Georgina Beyer.
Lomu was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome in 1995 and had a kidney transplant - donated by broadcaster Grant Kereama in 2004. He died in 2015.
“Tarsh Kemp’s passing reflects the very real and unequal impact of kidney disease and the need to act,” said Kidney Health New Zealand Board Chair David Shearer.
Māori organ donation
Dr Curtis Walker, a Kidney Health New Zealand board member and nephrologist who specialises in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of kidney diseases and conditions said it was a cultural myth that Māori and Pacific people would not donate organs.
Figures are not kept on the ethnicities of donors, but “there is a great willingness among Māori to donate,” he said.
“Back in the day some would see this as tapu and not to share organs but these days Māori are very accepting of organ donation.
“We are seeing an increase in Māori donors.”
Kidney transplants
Curtis said while Māori and Pacific people make up around 25% of the population, because they often do not receive sufficient primary care until later in life, they occupy 53% of dialysis beds.
Māori are very willing to donate and we are seeing a slight increase in Māori donors
He hopes addressing high blood pressure and diabetes early will turn that statistic around for Māori.
In 2023, 33 Māori received kidney transplants.
Preventing the problem
At least one in 10 New Zealanders are affected by Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and most are unaware of it until it’s too late - and often discover they only have 10% kidney function.
Former Prime Minister Jim Bolger undergoes dialysis four times daily after his kidneys failed a year ago.
In 2024, 70 people donated organs following their deaths in Aotearoa New Zealand, leading to 213 people receiving lifesaving kidney, liver, lung, heart, and pancreas transplants.
“This really starts with access to good primary health care and staying away from the crap calorie-laden fast food available,” Walker said.
He said 60%-70% of kidney disease and next-stage kidney failure is preventable, stemming from diabetes and high blood pressure - and early detection would save lives.
Dialysis costs about $70,000 a year and a kidney transplant also costs around $70,000 - the cost covered by Health NZ.
Walker said Māori experience kidney failure at up to three times the rate of non-Māori - yet face persistent barriers to early detection, diagnosis and treatment.
Diabetes and high blood pressure, two of the leading causes of kidney failure, are more common in Māori, Pacific and South Asian communities.
In 2024, 70 people donated organs following their death in Aotearoa New Zealand, leading to 213 people receiving lifesaving kidney, liver, lung, heart, and pancreas transplants.
Last year’s Organ Donor NZ annual report showed a total of 198 kidney transplants, 49 adult liver transplants, five liver transplants for children, 19 heart transplants, 28 lung transplants, 4 multiple kidney and pancreas transplants, 2 liver and kidney and 4 pancreas transplants. They are not broken down to ethnicity.
Of the 70 (deceased) organ donors, collectively they donated 348 organs and tissues, that included 118 kidneys, 54 heart valves, 28 lungs, 54 livers, four pancreas, 100 eye tissue, 30 heart valve tissue and seven skin donations.
Joseph Los’e joined NZME in 2022 as Kaupapa Māori Editor. Los’e was a chief reporter, news director at the Sunday News newspaper covering crime, justice and sport. He was also editor of the NZ Truth and prior to joining NZME worked for urban Māori organisation Whānau Waipareira.