Listen
A new study published today shows how dangerously close Aotearoa New Zealand is to a national measles outbreak because of low immunisation rates in children.
The Otago University research, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, show a decline in the number of children receiving the first vaccine at 12-months old is declining across the country and is now less than 90-percent in six locations - Bay of Plenty, Lakes, Northland, Tai Rāwhiti, West Coast and Whanganui
Lead researcher Dr Nienke Hagedoorn says a nationwide catch-up immunisation programme is urgently needed.