Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Premium
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

'Born into a global society that couldn't protect them': Hawke's Bay journalist's frustration amid Samoa measles crisis

By Shannon Johnstone
Hawkes Bay Today·
18 Dec, 2019 10:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Thomas Airey has been a journalist in Samoa during the measles crisis. Photo / Supplied

Thomas Airey has been a journalist in Samoa during the measles crisis. Photo / Supplied

Napier journalist Thomas Airey's felt the frustration and the sadness of the measles crisis in Samoa first-hand.

Airey, who's been working out of Samoa for a year, says it's been a month unlike anything he's experienced before.

The death toll in Samoa now sits at 76. Most deaths have been young children and infants. There have been over 5000 cases of measles in Samoa.

Airey describes the measles crisis as an all-encompassing topic, which has changed everyone's lives and brought a huge mood of sadness.

"It's been really tough to be here, especially with how preventable it all seems given how effective vaccinations are against measles, and how inevitable a spread to Samoa was when the outbreak happened in New Zealand," Airey said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Vaccinations are starting to prevent the disease spreading and killing more. Photo / File
Vaccinations are starting to prevent the disease spreading and killing more. Photo / File

Under-vaccination has been a primary issue in the measles crisis. Samoa has been affected by the spread of the disease more so than its Pacific neighbours.

"It's tragic enough that 70 people have died already, almost all of them infants and very young children that were born into a global society that couldn't protect them.

"It shouldn't have been that hard to do so," Airey said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Slow government action, an under-resourced health system, and to a degree the impact of traditional remedies such as Kangen water has heightened the effect of measles, Airey said.

"On top of a rich history of traditional healing, It seems like there's a perception here that hospital is where people go to die.

"So more often than not people only go as a very last resort, having exhausted all the home remedy-type options," he said.

As the vaccination programme moves towards 100 per cent the death toll has, thankfully, started to stall.

"From what we've been told by the Government, there hasn't been much resistance and the mass compulsory vaccination programmes have been pretty effective," Airey said.

The state of emergency order in place which has banned children under 19 from gathering in groups has made Apia, Samoa's capital city, much quieter, Airey said.

He described how local industries have been feeling the impact of the now quiet streets.

"Everyone is doing what they can to be business as usual given the circumstances," he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I think there's been a downturn in things like the hospitality industry, nightlife and activities," he said.

The now quiet nature of the country has also impacted on Airey's job, which primarily focuses on covering Samoa's rich sporting tapestry.

"Basically, all sport has been cancelled, so my job has changed pretty substantially in the past month or so.

"There just aren't any domestic competitions and events for me to cover here," he said.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

How new speed limits are making Hastings schools safer

Hawkes Bay Today

Heavy rain watch north of Napier, potential to be upgraded to warning

Hawkes Bay Today

Four crashes in Hawke’s Bay send four to hospital


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

How new speed limits are making Hastings schools safer
Hawkes Bay Today

How new speed limits are making Hastings schools safer

The changes are part of Hastings' early rollout of lower speed limits.

16 Jul 03:49 AM
Heavy rain watch north of Napier, potential to be upgraded to warning
Hawkes Bay Today

Heavy rain watch north of Napier, potential to be upgraded to warning

16 Jul 01:20 AM
Four crashes in Hawke’s Bay send four to hospital
Hawkes Bay Today

Four crashes in Hawke’s Bay send four to hospital

15 Jul 11:58 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP