E Tipu e Rea Whānau services supports young hapū māmā, mātua taiohi (young parents) and their tamariki with a range of health and social services tailored to their needs. Our mission statement is: Supporting mātua taiohi, hapū māmā and pēpi to grow, thrive, and be rangatira within their whānau, hapū, iwi, hapori.

E Tipu e Rea Whānau Service holds the same concerns public health experts regarding the vulnerability of Aotearoa to a measles epidemic, particularly with the lower immunisation rates observed especially among tamariki Māori.

Given the priority focus on Māori and the need for immediate action to prevent such an epidemic, the involvement of organisations like E Tipu E Rea Whānau Services through initiatives such as Kahu Taurima, which was originally set up by Te Aka Whai Ora and Whatu Ora’s are crucial.

The intentions of the Kahu Taurima vision with providers like E Tipu E Rea Whānau Services is to provide accessible, culturally safe wrap-around immunisation initiatives and other Early Years and Maternity supports.

In preventing the measles epidemic threat, those with Kahu Taurima contracts will be engaging in multiple strategies to increase immunisations including:

1. Outreach service and education to provide information about the importance of immunisation and addressing concerns or misconceptions in communities where our whānau live.
2. Culturally sensitive vaccination clinics that offer services at locations that are convenient, local, and culturally comfortable spaces such as marae, youth hubs or community centres.
3. Collaborative efforts to work closely with local iwi authorities, health providers, and community leaders to develop and implement these targeted strategies.
4. Tailored tautoko that offer wrap-around services that address the broader social determinants such as housing, education and employment that all impact immunisation rates.
5. Empowering whānau to engage in the decision-making processes and empowering them to take an active role in safeguarding the health of their tamariki and communities.

Ereana Selwyn, Pou Whakahaere, Clinical Lead in the E Tipu E Rea Whānau Services Kuru Pounamu (Maternity and Early Years) team delivering on the Kahu Taurima contract states:

“At E Tipu e Rea Whānau Services we want to address and minimise the barriers to accessing childhood immunisations. Our Kahu Taurima service aims to provide age and culturally appropriate health education and services in antenatal care, tamariki ora, and immunisations to support whānau in providing the best start to life for their tamariki. We want to invest in whānau throughout the first 2000 days of life to ensure we make an impactful difference to lifelong, and intergenerational wellbeing. We also want to work collectively with other providers to achieve high immunisations rates for whānau. Together we can achieve great outcomes. We are pleased that childhood immunisations remain a priority for the new government”

Another pandemic will also put our pacific neighbours in danger. The 2019 outbreak in Samoa resulted in 83 preventable measles related deaths.

By combining the above mentioned strategies with the efforts of organisations like E Tipu E Rea Whānau Services and others, Aotearoa can work towards mitigating the risk of a measles epidemic and improving the health and wellbeing of Māori communities.

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