Latest Figures Debunk MOH Meningococcal Claim

Press Release
Latest Figures Debunk MOH Meningococcal Claim
Ron Law
Risk & Policy Analyst

"Figures released by the ESR & MOH overnight debunk the Ministry of Health's claims that the MeNZB vaccine is having a major impact on meningococcal disease," says Risk & Policy Analyst, Ron Law (021 0665088).

Meningococcal disease has been in a steady decline since it peaked in 2001. Meningococcal disease peaked in under five year olds in Auckland in 1999 and has been declining rapidly ever since.

The Ministry's own data clearly shows that the vaccine has made not one iota of difference to the ongoing natural decline.

The Ministry of Health's claim that this ongoing natural decline is due to the impact of the MeNZB vaccine is bizarre at best... to use this false claim to excite the Minister to get another $20 million dollars smacks of policy fraud... imagine what Plunket could do with that money.

Also puzzling is a letter from the Hon Pete Hodgson, the Minister of Health, in response to an Official Information Act request.

The Minister claims that the MOH is using the Census 2001 population to calculate meningococcal rates per 100,000. This claim is patently false and is being referred to the Ombudsman; The Ministry of Health are using a decade old population figure of 3.73 million which was the population of New Zealand in 1996...

"The Ministry of Health is still manipulating and falsifying data to justify its $250 million meningococcal vaccination experiment," says Ron Law.

ENDS

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