April 30, 2018
Low immunisation driving health disparities
The New Zealand College of Public Health Medicine is calling for a push to lift immunisation rates for Maori and Pacific peoples.
It's World Immunisation Awareness Week, and the college says inequities in immunisation rates between population groups contribute to disparities in health outcomes between ethnicities.
President Dr Felicity Dumble says the college is also recommending more effort to promote the immunisation of children and adults according to the National Immunisation Schedule and to immunise healthcare workers against influenza, measles and pertussis infections.
This is not only for their own protection, but also to reduce the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases to vulnerable patients, including the unborn children of pregnant women.
Immunisation rates in New Zealand have improved significantly in recent years but there are still areas and population groups where immunisation rates are below recommended levels and targets.
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