VACCINATION PROGRAMS

Mr SIBBONS (Mitchell) (15:13): My question is to the Minister for Health. How is the state government working to ensure that South Australian children are protected against disease?

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (15:13): As members would know, the mass production and distribution of vaccines in the 20^th century stands as one of humanity's great achievements. Vaccinations have truly changed the world. In the simplest terms, diseases that used to maim, disfigure or kill many millions of people each year no longer wreak that havoc because of vaccination programs.

For example, following a targeted vaccination campaign by the World Health Organisation, smallpox was eradicated in the late 1970s after it had plagued humanity for over 3,000 years and was responsible for an estimated 300 million to 500 million deaths during the 20^th century alone. We no longer vaccinate against smallpox because the disease no longer exists. Polio and rubella are nearly in the same category.

Vaccination remains the most effective and cost-effective method of preventing infectious diseases. It is for this reason that it was concerning that a recently released publication from the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance showed a vaccine coverage rate reported for five year olds in South Australia of 74.7 per cent. The data, which examined trends in coverage and timeliness of immunisation in children less than seven years of age during 2008 is, unfortunately, old data. There has been significant improvement since then, and I can tell the house what the latest figures are.

By the end of September this year, 86.7 per cent of South Australian children were fully vaccinated by five years of age, which is an increase of 12 per cent over the last couple of years. This is very pleasing; however, there is no room for complacency. Vaccine coverage rates in South Australia continue to be very high amongst younger children, so 92.4 per cent, for example, of two year olds are fully vaccinated. Work needs to continue to ensure vaccination rates do not drop between the ages of two and five.

The National Immunisation Program schedule provides that children should be immunised at two, four, six, 12 and 18 months of age and then again at four years. At four years of age, children should receive their booster vaccines. It is important to boost their immunity against disease prior to mixing with other children in kindergartens and school environments. It would appear that some parents delay getting that final booster for their children.

There have been strategies in place since 2008 to encourage parents to have their four year olds vaccinated on time, and it is pleasing to see that result of a 12 per cent increase since 2008. Changes have been made to the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register to reduce the overdue period from 12 months to one month, at which point the parents will get a reminder letter.

Meanwhile, parents also have access to the maternity immunisation allowance, run through Centrelink and the Family Assistance Office, which offers a non income tested payment of about $250 to parents to encourage them to immunise their children. The commonwealth has now decided to split the payment of this allowance so that parents will be paid following vaccination of their children at 18 months and then again at four years of age, and I think that is a very wise thing to do.

Here, in our state, SA Health will continue to work closely with GPs and local government to make sure that vaccination is easy to access and that parents are supported with balanced and useful information on immunising their children. However, governments can only do so much. I urge all parents to keep their children's vaccination up to date. When immunisation programs achieve high levels of community immunity, or what scientists sometimes refer to as 'herd' immunity, the likelihood that an infected person will transmit the disease to a susceptible individual is greatly reduced.

Community immunity provides indirect protection to children who may be too young for certain vaccinations or who have other health problems, such as leukaemia, that prevent them from being immunised. I might also say that vaccination by the majority protects those who for ideological reasons and fantasy reasons oppose vaccination. By deciding to vaccinate, parents are not only protecting their own children but these other children as well.