Researchers are working alongside Māori and Pasifika communities in Waikato and Counties Manukau to boost falling childhood immunisation rates.
They will be evaluating what support and delivery is needed to immunise Māori and Pasifika aged under 5 from infectious diseases. The project will also explore how to lift immunisation rates among pregnant mothers and those with disabilities.
The research programme is commissioned by Te Niwha, an infectious diseases research platform, and led by Te Rau Ora chief executive Riki Nia Nia (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tūhoe, Tonga).
Nia Nia said the study focused on Counties Manukau and Waikato as childhood immunisation rates among Māori living there were below 50% of the eligible population and the regions were home to Aotearoa’s highest Māori and Pasifika communities.
Fewer than 42% of 6-month-old Māori pēpi in Counties Manukau were fully vaccinated and less than 38% in Waikato, he said.
Middlemore Hospital serves the Counties Manukau community. Photo: Jarred Williamson
“The rates for tamariki Māori in the immunisation space have dropped significantly and this is an opportunity for us to see what are some of the reasons for that, what are some of the issues, some of the barriers, get a better understanding in particular from our whānau and kaupapa partners who work in this space.”
Immunisation rates for tamariki Māori had dropped significantly post-Covid - but despite that, Nia Nia said Covid was a good example of some of the things that worked for Māori.
“One of the things we did during Covid was that we valued the mātauranga of our Māori communities in the same way that we value our clinical expertise.”
The barriers to vaccination were already well known, he said: A lack of trust in the system, lack of trust in the workforce, access to immunisations, understanding and awareness.
The researchers wanted to work closely with whānau so the community trusted the delivery system and information was delivered in a way that people felt safe.
“Ultimately for me, it’s giving them the information that they need to know to say these vaccinations are safe, if there are any issues, these are what the issues are, and giving it to them in a way they can understand and appreciate. But I think the other important part is that we’ve got the right people talking to our whānau.”
The most important thing researchers could do was enable awareness and understanding and let whānau make the choice for themselves, Nia Nia said.
“But we’ve actually got some amazing Māori immunologists that are doing a lot of research in the vaccination space and when we talk to our Māori immunologists and other immunologists as well they tell us about how safe they are, so it’s important our whānau get to hear that from our amazing Māori scientists.”
Late last year, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced a two-year, $50 million package to help Māori health providers lift immunisation rates.
Vaccination rates of Māori across the motu were, on average, lower than 70% in children from birth to 5 years old, according to the minister’s media release on the initiative.
