Vaccination rates 'worrying'

Northland parents continue to pass up the opportunity to vaccinate their kids. PHOTO/FILE

Northland District Health Board has rated lowest in the country for immunisation as many parents continue to pass up on vaccinating their children in the region.

The DHB's performance rating for increasing immunisation in the July to September quarter was just 88 per cent - the joint lowest with West Coast DHB of the country's 20 health boards. Northland was second last when the report was last published.

However, the DHB's performance was rated average or above average in all other areas. It had the highest rating in the country for improving access to elective surgery, and Manaia Health was the top performer of all primary health organisations in the Ministry of Health's "Better Help for Smokers to Quit" programme.

Northland DHB medical officer of health Dr Juliet Rumball-Smith described the region's low immunisation coverage as "highly concerning".

"This means our children, whanau and wider communities do not have the same level of protection as they would in other regions," she said.

"This is not only worrying for our children, particularly those who cannot be immunised for medical reasons, but for our wider population. The vaccines on the childhood schedule protect our tamariki from a number of diseases, many of which like whooping cough, mumps, and hepatitis B continue to circulate around our communities."

Immunisation was a critical step for giving Northland children the best start in life, she said.

"The diseases these immunisations protect against are serious. They may have life-long effects on health and can even be fatal. They can also be easily spread around the community - on average, one person with measles may infect around 12-14 people."

Difficulty getting the immunisations on time, and parents and caregivers actively choosing to forego immunisations for their baby were the main contributors to Northland's low immunisation rates, she said.

Dr Rumball-Smith said early signs suggested an increase in the rate of child immunisations across Northland over the last few months, however the DHB remained focused on improving its immunisation coverage.

"We are actively supporting primary care staff to assist parents and caregivers to have their babies immunised on time," Dr Rumball-Smith said.

-Go to www.health.govt.nz/healthtargets to see how the DHB compares to others.