Door shut to TB sufferers

By HELEN TUNNAH deputy political editor

A crackdown on migrants who may become a burden on the taxpayer means rejection for severely disabled children and people with infectious diseases such as tuberculosis.

Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel has defended the restrictions, saying New Zealand is entitled to conduct a "cost-benefit analysis" of would-be migrants.

Her policy introducing compulsory screening for tuberculosis has been welcomed by a public health officer in Auckland, where the rate of the infectious disease is twice the national average, and four times that of Australia.

TB is so prevalent in Auckland that the city passes the threshold for a country to be added to the Government's own high-risk list. Almost three-quarters of the cases in the city occur in people born overseas.

The TB screening will apply from March to all overseas students wanting to stay six months. For other people wanting to stay a year or longer, screening will start from the middle of this year.

By the end of the year, anyone coming here for six months from a high-risk country will be screened. Medical screening from year-end will also check for HIV, hepatitis B and serious kidney disease.

Other entry stipulations include whether a person will be a burden on social or education services.

That will affect elderly people who might need rest-home care, or special-needs children, such as those with serious hearing or learning difficulties, and their families.

Lianne Dalziel said that if a person tested positive for TB, he or she could be treated overseas and reapply for entry. The applicant would meet screening costs.

"Everyone will be declined if they test positive for TB."

She said it was fair to assess people to see if they would be a drain.

"A country is entitled, in determining whether people are eligible for residency or not, to undertake - and I know it might sound harsh - a cost-benefit analysis."

The costs to the healthcare system of migrant TB sufferers is not known. The Special Education Service was also not able to say yesterday how many migrant children were eligible for special resources at present.

Dr Craig Thornley, medical officer of health with the Auckland regional public health service, "wholeheartedly endorsed" compulsory screening for TB.

He said there were 232 cases in Auckland last year, and about 71 per cent of sufferers were born overseas. One-quarter of sufferers had immigrated in the last two years.

Few people die from TB in New Zealand, but Dr Thornley said a delay in diagnosis could leave a person seriously ill, requiring a year or more of treatment.

TB threat

* TB is a respiratory illness, spread by coughing and sneezing.

* There were 384 TB cases in 2002.

* Six people died.

* About 70 per cent of people with TB were born overseas.

* Nationally, 10 people in 100,000 get TB.

* In Auckland, that rises to 21.2 per 100,000.

* Auckland's rate is four times that of Australia.

* In 1943, TB peaked at 2600 cases.

SOURCE - ESR