‘The state is falling short': Sobering report reveals realities and optimism of Māori kids in the system
Māori adults who were in the oranga tamariki system as kids are more likely than other Māori to be hospitalised for self-harm or in emergency housing and less likely to be employed, a new report finds.
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Otago Daily Times
7 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Pharmac considers extension to free vaccination programme
By Victor Waters of RNZ Pharmac says it's exploring ways to extend a free meningoccocal B vaccine programme, with an estimated 100,000 eligible pre-schoolers still not protected. Meningitis prevention advocates have pressured health officials to continue the campaign, which is due to end on August 31. Pharmac pharmaceuticals director Geraldine MacGibbon said Pharmac funds the meningococcal B vaccine for all children under the age of one. "In March 2023, Pharmac funded a catch-up programme for children under the age of five to better protect young New Zealanders from meningococcal B. "We understand that people are keen to see the catch-up period extended and we are actively exploring options for this." "We will keep interested groups, including the Meningitis Foundation, informed about any updates," MacGibbon said. According to the Meningitis Foundation Aotearoa New Zealand, meningococcal bacteria can cause meningococcal meningitis - inflammation of the meninges, the membrane lining of the brain and spinal cord - and/or septicaemia (blood poisoning). Foundation chair Gerard Rushton said the meningococcal B vaccination programme was initiated after a submission the foundation made to Parliament and an application to Pharmac. He said more than 400,000 doses were given out in the first 12 months of the campaign. "We're calling on Health New Zealand and the government to actually continue this programme, because we know it works. We know it will save lives. "We know it's going to take pressure off the already-stretched health system. "What we're saying is this campaign has been very successful and it's been proven that people want it, but there's still 100,000 of our tamariki that haven't been protected, so we're calling them to keep this programme going. "We're really concerned that this large sector of our community are going to miss out. The vaccination rates for our young are still far too low, but we need them to extend this programme, because we need to protect those 100,000 of our children who are still unvaccinated." A Health New Zealand spokesperson said it was are "responsible for the implementation of the programme". "Pharmac funds the meningococcal B catch-up programme and set the timeframe from 1 March 2023 to 31 August 2025." A Health New Zealand spokesperson said, as of 9 June 2025, 84 percent of eligible children under 15 months had at least one dose of the meningococcal B vaccine. "Whānau can access the meningococcal B vaccines from a range of places, including general practice, hauora Māori and Pacific providers, with many Wellchild Tamariki Ora Services, including Whānau Āwhina Plunket, offering immunisations. "There are also more than 122 pharmacies now offering the vaccine for children aged from three years. "The meningococcal B vaccination is a part of the national immunisation schedule. "As a part of the Government's Health Target, we are focused on lifting childhood immunisation rates and we are making good progress towards this goal," said the spokesperson. Meningitis Foundation Aotearoa New Zealand chair Gerard Rushton said his organisation didn't see a reason for the catch-up programme to be discontinued. "Māori and Pasifika are 4-5 times more likely to catch meningitis than the European population, so they are a higher risk at the moment. We struggle to understand why there's a vaccination programme at the moment that actually discriminates against them. "The full vaccination programme was that the babies are free, there was a catch-up programme for 13-month to 5-year-olds, and that first-year students in boarding schools, halls of residence, barracks or prisons could get it free." "We feel that discriminates against the biggest at-risk group we've got, which is our Māori and Pasifika, because they're under-represented at halls of residence and boarding schools," he said.
NZ Herald
11 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Hastings council takes down Māori wards videos after legal letter from Hobson's Pledge
Hastings District Council has removed social media videos of councillors talking up the benefits of Māori wards after it received a legal letter from lobby group Hobson's Pledge. At the beginning of June, Hastings District Council (HDC) posted a video of Deputy Mayor Tania Kerr promoting the positive impact of
RNZ News
14 hours ago
- RNZ News
School attendance better for term one than same time last year
Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi The number of children attending school regularly rose to 66 percent in term one. That's up from 61 percent for the same term last year. Regular attendance has been rising after reaching record lows in 2022. That year the term one figure was 46.5 percent, dropping to 40 percent in term two - the term that traditionally has the worst attendance rates. In 2019, before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, term one regular attendance was 73 percent. The government wants 80 percent of children attending regularly by 2030 . "Short-term illness/ medical absences continued to be the main driver of non-attendance, accounting for 4.6 percent of absent time in Term 1 2025," a ministry report on the figures said. "Absence recorded as truancy or unknown reason accounted for 1.8 percent of absent time. Total time absent in Term 1 2025 was 9.7 percent of time in the term." The report said regular attendance improved for all ethnicities reaching 51 for Māori, 55 percent for Pacific students, 74 percent for Asian students, and 69 for European/Pākehā. It said regular attendance was lowest in Tai Tokerau at 54 percent, followed by South and South-West Auckland on 58 percent. "Tāmaki Herenga Manawa (Central and East Auckland) region had the highest percentage of students attending regularly in Term 1 2025 (72.3 percent), followed by Otago, Southland at 70.2 percent, and Tāmaki Herenga Tāngata (North and West Auckland) region at 70.0 percent."
