The immunisation data

Lindsay Mitchell blogs on immunisation. She shows what happened after National made it a national health target.

So the overall immunisation rate went from the high 70s to the low 90s. But the massive change from Maori infants that went from just over 65% to almost 90%. The benefits of that will be massive. But sadly, it has now reversed.

The moment the Government changed and Labour abolished the BPS targets and health targets, and the Maori rate for two year olds dropped from around 92% to 85% and since then has plummeted to just over 65%.

Public health people often say the barriers to vaccination are poverty and racism. But National showed that a competent Government can make a massive difference to immunisation rates. The Maori rate went up 20 percentage points and the decile 9/10 rate up round 15 percentage points.