Medical experts say New Zealand is facing a paediatric crisis as childhood immunisation rates continue to fall.
For mums like Nykita, it couldn't come soon enough. She's worried about whooping cough.
Her baby Natalia is three weeks old – in another three, she’ll be getting her first immunisations.
Nykita told 1News: “There’s cases, you know potential cases, and then three confirmed deaths, it’s really scary”.
Yesterday the national public health service, Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand, confirmed a further baby had died from whooping cough.
“To date, three infants, all aged under one year, have died from whooping cough in 2023. This third tragic death is not related to the two earlier deaths reported by Te Whatu Ora on 9 March,” a statement read.
It comes as childhood immunisation rates continue to plummet.
Paediatrician Dr Owen Sinclair says they’re at their lowest since records began.
“The current system isn’t working,” he says. “This is a huge crisis in respect to paediatrics.”
He co-chairs the Immunisation Taskforce, which today made 54 recommendations to Te Whatu Ora.
The main issue, he says, is access to immunisations, particularly for Maori tamariki, who are most at risk.
“For example, we need more places where people can go to be immunised,” he says. “It would be great if they could just go to the shopping centre on a Saturday. But to do that, we need more people, to do that we need more IT, to do that we need better delivery systems to get those sort of things done.
Te Whatu Ora says its accepting all the recommendations.
It’s expected to cost around $40 million to put them all into practice.
“Some of the changes are going to be challenging to implement,“ says Te Whatu Ora director Dr Nick Chamberlain. “I think the whole sector recognises how vitally important immunisation is.”
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