Meningococcal vaccine petition heads to Parliament

Gerard and Claire Rushton present the meningococcal vaccine petition to Dr Shane Reti MP

Today, Thursday 31st March 2022, on behalf of the Meningitis Foundation, our network of families, and 6,357 other New Zealanders, Gerard and Claire Rushton presented an urgent request to Dr Shane Reti MP and his Parliamentary colleagues.

Meningococcal disease is a killer. It affects around 120 Kiwis every year and around 10% of those people die, often within hours or days, while many survivors suffer devastating long-term disability and impairment.

Our rangitahi, 14 to 19-year-olds in particular, are at significant risk of meningococcal disease. Risk could be dramatically and substantially reduced through a vaccination campaign for meningococcal B and ACWY aimed, in the first instance, at protecting all teenagers before they leave school.

We ask Parliament to fund a meningococcal B and ACWY vaccination campaign for ALL teenagers.

The petition is a key part of the Meningitis Foundation’s 2025 Goal to ensure every college student is protected against all preventable forms of meningococcal disease before they leave school.

By ensuring every college student is protected against all preventable forms of meningococcal disease before they leave school, the New Zealand Government can save lives and reduce long term, costly, side effects of meningococcal disease, whilst meaningfully contributing to the WHO initiative and global roadmap to defeat meningitis by 2030.