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RNZ News
14-07-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Health minister 'heartened' by rising child immunisation rates
The biggest increase was in South Canterbury, which delivered a 12.1 percentage point gain this quarter. Photo: AFP Health Minister Simeon Brown is "heartened" by rising childhood immunisation rates, with national coverage climbing to just under 80 percent in the first three months of the year. National coverage at 24 months climbed to 79.3 percent in the third quarter of 2024/25 - up 2.4 percentage points compared to the same quarter last year. "Protecting children from preventable illnesses like measles and whooping cough is a priority, so it's heartening to see more children across the country now fully immunised," Brown said. "These results show that our clear focus on health targets, combined with the efforts of our frontline workforce, is delivering real improvements for children." The biggest increase was in South Canterbury, which delivered a "remarkable" 12.1 point gain this quarter. That region had the third-highest coverage rate in the country - 87.5 percent - just behind Canterbury (89.9 percent) and Capital and Coast (88.9 percent). "Auckland lifted its coverage by 5.7 percentage points, Counties Manukau by 5.5, and Lakes by 5.2. Capital and Coast rose by 4.4 points, while Whanganui achieved a 5.8-point gain," Brown said. The rise in immunisation coverage was especially important following the recent measles cases in Wairarapa, he continued . "Measles is highly infectious, and vaccination remains the most effective way to protect our children and communities. Simeon Brown. Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro "Every additional child immunised lowers the chance of outbreaks, helping to keep our families, schools, and communities safe and healthy." Wairarapa was one of five districts where immunisation coverage dipped compared with the same quarter last year. One (Southern) remained the same, while 14 others recorded increases. Brown said childhood immunisations were a key priority for the government. "That's why this government has introduced performance payments for GP clinics that lift childhood immunisation rates by up to 10 percentage points, or reach 95 percent of their enrolled population - with partial payments for partial achievement." The interim target was to have 84 percent of two-year-olds fully vaccinated by June. Operational data released by the minister in May (yet to be verified) showed vaccination rates continued to rise after March, exceeding 80 percent (80.2 percent) for the first time since early 2022. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
16-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
NZ Food Safety proposes increasing residue limits of insecticides, pesticides in food
A petition started by digital marketing specialist Jade Steel of Bay of Plenty gained 16,500 signatures within a fortnight in opposition to raising the glyphosate limits. Photo: ARNE DEDERT Friday is the final day for the public to have its say on the proposed changes to the maximum residue limits of insecticides, pesticides and animal medicines that end up in our food. New Zealand Food Safety proposed a raft of changes to these maximum residue limits (MRLs), including those of the world's most common herbicide, and here in New Zealand too, glyphosate, which is the active ingredient in weedkillers such as Round Up. The MRL was proposed to increase 100 times the current 0.1 milligrams per kilogram in pre-harvest weed control of wheat, barley and oat grains to 10 milligrams per kilo. Another proposed increase was 6 milligrams per kilogram as a pre-harvest drying agent for pea crops. Federated Farmers' arable vice-chairman Andrew Darling of South Canterbury, said glyphosate was an "incredibly useful tool" for the whole farming sector, as well as arable. But he said it was not used "willy-nilly" due to its cost, and farmers adhered to good agricultural practices around its use and followed manufacturer suggestions too. However, he said most farmers did not see the need for levels to jump so high. "The current MRL limit on glyphosate, for example, was probably just a default setting," Darling said. "And some survey samples were done about five years ago, I mean the majority were under that 0.1 percent of what it currently is at, with only a handful being over. "We're well below international MRL rates, so a small lift wouldn't be a problem," he said. "But from a Federated Farmers point of view, we struggle to see why it needed to be increased to 100 times what's been from 0.1 percent to 10 percent when we're well underneath that." A petition started by digital marketing specialist Jade Steel of Bay of Plenty gained 16,500 signatures within a fortnight in opposition to raising the glyphosate limits. She said it was hard to avoid the presence of glyphosate in food. "So far, everybody I've noticed who's seen [the petition] and commented and shared it have been really shocked that this is even happening like people cannot believe that this is happening," she said. "I've been trying to avoid glyphosate in my food for years now and just the fact that they're trying to raise the limits is terrifying." Glyphosate has been at the centre of many scientific studies in recent years to understand long-term health effects from exposure. New Zealand Food Safety's consultation document said MPI determined the use of glyphosate for crops carried out with good agricultural practice was "unlikely to pose health risks." Its deputy director-general Vincent Arbuckle said once consultation was completed, it would consider changes to the Food Notice by either progressing changes as proposed, amending them or withdrawing them altogether if further work was needed. In October, the Environmental Protection Authority decided not to re-assess the use of glyphosate following a request from advocacy group the Environmental Law Initiative. Public consultation close at 5pm on Friday. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
