September 21, 2022
Māori partners needed for measles jab push
A Māori immunologist says working with Māori providers will be key to catching up with childhood immunisation.
Dr Anthony Jordan, the clinical director for the Northern Region Health Coordination Centre, says another measles epidemic is looking inevitable because of dangerously low vaccination rates – especially among Maori and Pacifica children.
A measles outbreak in 2019 infected more than 2000 people and hospitalised more than 700 – mostly children in South Auckland – before spreading to Samoa where it killed more than 70 people.
“I think getting alongside our Maori providers again to support catch up, using those inroads we have made over Covid-19, to make sure our whanau know you are due for those immunisations and getting in and getting those done,” Dr Jordan says.
He says many Maori seem unaware vaccines helped eliminate infectious diseases such as smallpox, polio, and whooping cough.