Turia rejects immunisation programme

Tariana Turia

Tariana Turia is questioning talk of a meningitis epidemic in New Zealand - and says the same amount of money and effort should be spent on tackling diabetes.

The Maori Party leader and former associate Health Minister has taken her own public stand against the nationwide vaccination effort by refusing to vaccinate her two young grandchildren.

Maori and Pacific Island children are most at risk of contracting the potentially devastating disease.

However, Mrs Turia said while she thought long and hard about whether to vaccinate her grandchildren - Piata Turia-Bullock, 3, and Amaru Turia-Bennett, 5 - in the end she decided against it, saying she believed the vaccine had not been properly tested. There were other strains of the deadly disease that weren't covered by the vaccine, she said.

Mrs Turia also launched a wide-ranging critique of the Government's $200 million meningococcal vaccination campaign. She said the Government should spend as much money on tackling diabetes, which was a "far bigger problem" affecting Maori and Polynesian families than meningococcal disease.

While "one death is too many", she said meningococcal disease had been in New Zealand for 13 years and there were signs the epidemic had already peaked.

"Meningococcal B is often associated with over-crowding: these issues are around poverty, and that's what the Government should be addressing, by providing people with better housing," she said.

"If we're going to talk about epidemics, they should spend more money on diabetes, which is a pandemic among Maori and Polynesian families."

Mrs Turia said Maori were far more likely to contract type-two diabetes, and the Government should be spending millions sending health workers into households with diabetes sufferers.

"That's the best way to access families. If someone has diabetes, you need to target their family."

But Meningococcal Immunisation programme director Dr Jane O'Hallahan dismissed Mrs Turia's claims.

New Zealand still had three times the meningitis rate considered an epidemic by the World Health Organisation, she said. Last year, eight people died and another 334 people contracted the disease, while 118 people have contracted it so far this year.

"The immunisation programme is based on informed consent, but we have heard of people who base their decision on misinformation," she said.

Dr O'Hallahan said the vaccine had been fully tested to meet international and national licensing guidelines. The United Kingdom and the United States had both rolled out immunisation programmes based on Phase II clinical trials, even though their incidence of the disease was "considerably lower" than New Zealand was experiencing. Aside from the human cost, the epidemic cost the country more than $1 billion.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY