The world health body was concerned that vaccination was at its lowest since 2012. Photo: 123rf
The World Health Organisation warned New Zealand last year about the "alarming" gap in its measles immunisation, saying urgent work was needed to close it.
Two WHO medical officers reviewed the Ministry of Health's measles epidemic preparedness report and noted "with concern" that measles immunisation was at its lowest since 2012.
"There are alarming gaps among Māori and Pacific peoples," their review said.
If the gaps were not closed, the country was at risk of a large outbreak, it said.
New Zealand officially eliminated measles in 2017 and kept that status, despite the 2019 outbreak, which affected more than 2000 people, because it was able to eliminate the disease again.
There are currently eight known cases in Manawatū, Nelson, Northland, Taranaki, Wellington and Auckland, with fears of an unchecked community spread.
The WHO review recommended New Zealand urgently fill the immunity gaps between Māori and Pacific people, as well as other vulnerable groups, by incentivising vaccinations.
Latest stats show 72 percent of Māori under-fives are vaccinated, compared to 82 percent for the whole population.
At least 95 percent coverage is needed to achieve herd immunity, which prevents community spread.
Generally, New Zealand was praised for having a measles strategy and for being well prepared to respond to outbreaks - mainly because it had a strong ability to trace and respond to cases - but prevention was the best strategy and the country should prioritise that.
The ministry's director of public health, Corina Grey, said the ministry shared the WHO's concerns about immunisation rates, including among Māori and Pacific children.
Progress had been made since the review - in June last year the rate of children who were fully immunised at two was 76.5 percent, she said.
Despite that, the current 82 percent was well below what was needed.
Since the review, the places where people could be vaccinated had expanded to include pharmacies and health centres, GPs were incentivised to deliver six-week immunisations on time, and there were campaigns to try to encourage parents to catch up on getting their children vaccinated.
The June figures still identified several pockets of the country where there were very low rates of childhood vaccinations, something public health doctors fear could lead to measles taking off in those communities.
In the 2019 outbreak, about 700 people were hospitalised, a quarter of them were under two.
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