I knew that New Zealand's immunisation rate was relatively low, but I was startled to find how low it was.

As our article on vaccinations points out, we have one of the lowest immunisation rates in the developed world.

The contrast with Australia is stark: 77 percent of our kids are vaccinated in accordance with our National Immunisation Schedule; the rate for their schedule is in the low nineties.

I grew up in a period when infectious diseases - polio, measles, whooping cough and diphtheria - were still major killers of young children or led to major disabilities for the survivors of serious brushes with these diseases.

There was at least one child at my primary school with their leg in calipers as a result of polio and I found out recently that one of my first bosses has had continuing health problems from getting polio as a child. I can still remember vividly my mother's anxiety each year as the polio season began.

The evidence seems clear that the Salk and Sabin vaccines have eliminated the scourge of polio here and in other countries.

Objectors to vaccination argue that poverty, overcrowded housing and poor nutrition are among the root causes of why infectious diseases spread. Eliminate these causes and improve public health and there would be no need for a national vaccination programme.

There's some merit in these arguments, but improvements in the condition of our housing stock have been continuing since the 1940s - and we still have some way to go. Elimination of poverty and improving the national diet for everyone are also ongoing projects.

In the meantime, vaccinations seem a cost-effective and relatively safe (proven serious adverse reactions are rare) way of keeping infectious diseases at bay.

Experts talk about immunisation programmes maintaining vaccination rates of between 85 and 95 percent to prevent outbreaks of disease. We're now below this for measles - only 79 percent of our one-year-olds are vaccinated against it.

Our current vaccination rates seem increasingly like an infectious-disease time bomb. Perhaps we should pay more attention to what Australia does. Conscientious objectors to vaccination there have to opt off the National Register, and admittance to school and some government benefits are tied to kids being vaccinated.

David Naulls

Editor
Consumer Magazine

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