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Key points:
- The Meningitis Foundation Aotearoa
New Zealand is using World Meningitis Day today to push for
urgent funding of vaccines for all 16-year-olds - It
has called on the Government to make important vaccine
funding decisions without delay - The call comes at a
critical time, as the Foundation prepares to make an oral
presentation to Parliament’s Health committee later this
month. - Pharmac’s Pharmaceutical Therapeutics
Advisory Committee will this month begin consultation for
its funding options for the most common strains of
meningococcal disease – the B and A, C, W, & Y
strains.
The Meningitis Foundation Aotearoa New
Zealand is using World Meningitis Day today (Wednesday 5
October) to push for urgent funding of vaccines for all
16-year-olds, and has called on the Government to make
important vaccine funding decisions without
delay.
Call for access to meningococcal vaccines for
all young people
The Foundation’s call comes at a
critical time for New Zealand, as the Foundation prepares to
make an oral presentation to Parliament’s Health committee
later in the month. In addition, Pharmac’s Pharmaceutical
Therapeutics Advisory Committee will this month begin
consultation for its funding options for the most common
strains of meningococcal disease – the B and A, C, W,
& Y strains.
In March 2022, the Meningitis
Foundation presented a petition to Dr Shane Reti, National
Spokesperson for Health, signed by 6,357 New Zealanders. The
petition urges the Government to fund both meningococcal
vaccines for the most common strains of meningococcal
disease – the B and A, C, W, & Y strains – for all
16-year-olds before they leave school.
The Foundation
is calling on Parliament to make two currently available
vaccines, which cover the most common strains of
meningococcal disease, free for all young people.
The
Meningitis Foundation’s Gerard Rushton says that change is
needed urgently.
Māori population at highest risk
and being failed
Meningococcal disease affects
between 100 and 200 Kiwis a year, with around 10-20% of
those dying from the disease – typically within 24 hours
of contracting it, says Rushton. But many more patients –
up to 30% of those affected – suffer severe permanent
impairment and disability including loss of limbs, hearing
loss, learning difficulties, cerebral palsy and brain
damage, says Rushton, who with his wife Claire lost their
16-year-old daughter Courtenay to the disease in
2014.
“It’s a disease that can progress very
rapidly and if not detected and treated in time, doctors may
be powerless to save the patient’s life,” says
Rushton.
“The disease affects all ages, but
13-to-25-year-olds are particularly vulnerable, while Māori
and Pasifika communities are also at high risk of catching
the disease and not receiving timely treatment. In fact,
Māori and Pasifika are 5 times more likely to contract
meningitis than other ethnic groups, which is not good
enough. The Government is failing these
communities.”
From 1991–2007, a New Zealand-only
strain of meningococcal B caused an epidemic, which
particularly affected Māori and Pasifika infants and
children. Māori were also significantly impacted by
meningococcal outbreaks in Northland in 2012 and
2018.
“Meningitis vaccines can be administered
safely alongside other vaccinations, including the flu and
COVID-19 jabs, with no stand-down period.
“Pharmac
has been given a $191 million increase to its budget over
the next two years. Some of that funding must be directed
towards protecting our children and our young people from
this serious and invasive disease,” he says.
To 31
August this year, there have been a total of 47 cases of
meningococcal disease (44 confirmed and 3 probable),
including one death. Over half (53%) of the cases were in
Māori and Pacific children aged under 5
years.
Pharmac changes pneumococcal
vaccination
Pharmac has recently announced plans to
give all babies access to a broader pneumococcal vaccine
from December, as cases of the potentially deadly disease
continue to surge. This access, says Rushton, should never
have been removed in the first place, and raises wider
questions around vaccine availability, and the importance of
consistency in raising public awareness.
“There is a
huge issue with changing the goal posts for what’s funded
and what isn’t. It means people who are eligible for the
vaccine may not be getting it recommended to them by
healthcare professionals, and that puts more of our
rangatahi at risk of dying – or living with the
potentially severe long-term side-effects of this horrific
disease each year. In the US state of Texas, the
introduction of mandatory vaccination for tertiary students
has shown a pattern of reduction in meningitis
cases.”
Cost of care for meningitis
survivors
Rushton says there are serious health,
social and economic consequences associated with meningitis.
For survivors, there can be significant consequences,
including the need for the right support and aftercare to
cope with physical and intellectual disabilities. Meningitis
and neonatal sepsis are the world’s leading cause of
severe intellectual disability, and meningitis is the
leading infectious cause of severe hearing
loss.
“For those who do survive, but are badly
disabled by it, the cost of care over the rest of their
lifetime can be enormous. But all that can be avoided by a
simple set of vaccinations.”
One French study
published in the Journal of Infection and Public Health in
2015 estimated the lifetime cost of care for a meningitis
survivor at between €770k and €2.3 million (NZD 1.3
million to NZD 3.9 million).
“The cost of
vaccination is approximately $450 per person, meaning that
the lifetime cost of care for a single meningitis survivor
could fund the vaccination of about 3,000 kiwi youths.
It’s about their future, and it’s about Aotearoa New
Zealand’s future,” says
Rushton.
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