Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Licence needed for work use Learn More
Parliament

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | Video | Questions Of the Day | Search

 

Case of mistaken identity in poster PR sideshow

Phil Heatley MP for Whangarei

15 October 2004

Case of mistaken identity in poster PR sideshow

Whangarei MP Phil Heatley says a case of mistaken identity in the Northland meningococcal vaccination poster debacle merely escalates the public relations sideshow surrounding the vaccination campaign.

Today there is a new twist in the censorship of the posters, which some claim create barriers for Maori vaccination and are 'culturally unsafe'. The kuia, whose cropped image appears on the Ministry of Health poster, is not Maori she is a Pacific Islander.

Mr Heatley says the public relations sideshow trivialises the vaccination campaign.

"I don't want Northlanders to lose confidence in the vaccination programme because health officials can't get the posters right.

"The Ministry of Health and the Northland DHB should have checked their facts before they wasted time sending and then retracting the posters."

Mr Heatley says Northland had a major meningococcal outbreak just last month.

"We should be focused on getting our kids their vaccinations as soon as possible - not on PC public relations."

ENDS


Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

Featured News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.