Family event aims to boost immunisation and health screening in Whanganui

A free health event is boosting immunisations and health screening in Whanganui.

A family-friendly, free health event is aiming to help boost child immunisation rates and health screening rates in Whanganui.

Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens is helping to organise the event through the Piri’anga Alofa Pacific and Community Services with support from Health New Zealand.

It will take place at Whanganui East School on Thursday from 3pm to 6pm, providing medical checks for families, immunisation, before-school checks, breast screening advice, cervical screening options, referrals, a free sausage sizzle and face painting for children.

About 200 people attended a similar event at Gonville School a few weeks ago.

Piri’anga Alofa Pacific and Community Services senior lead Caroline Mareko, who is based in Porirua but supports kindergarten services in Whanganui, said Health NZ had identified Whanganui as one of the regions with a low uptake of immunisations.

She said there were several reasons that could be contributing to this, such as a lack of accurate information being provided to families, or parents being busy and unable to find the time to get health checks.

The event aims to be a friendly, responsive and culturally appropriate afternoon to share information and provide health services for the community.

“In supporting this, it’s about increasing immunisation with our tamariki, but also for whānau as a whole,” Mareko said.

“We’re encouraging, but we’re not forcing people to do anything.”

For Māori and Pasifika patients, there were often cases of late presentations for cervical cancer or breast cancer that Mareko said would be improved by better engagement with early screening services.

“Whanganui is not the only community that has a low uptake, but it is an identified area,” she said.

Mareko hoped the event would help families in Whanganui to be better aware of the health services available to them.

“This is about knowing what the services are, to get advice and to ask the questions that you probably want to ask as a parent.

“It pays to get checked, and early intervention is best.”

Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.