November 18, 2012
Māori immunisation gap studied
The Health Research Council wants to know why some groups miss out on immunisation and what can be done about it.
It's funding a two-year study on ways that best practice on immunisation can be taught to groups with poorer results.
Study leader Lynn Taylor says low income is a factor in low immunisation, and there are also problems with Māori babies getting the jab.
"They're sitting at about 76 percent for Māori, children having their first three immunisations on time, so that's their six week, three month and five month, whereas the national average is about 85 percent so when Māori are living in poorer communities those factors combine and they are at more risk of being vulnerable to disease outbreaks that we sometimes see like measles and whooping cough," Dr Taylor says.
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