Need for reliable information

15 June 2005

Need for reliable information

Parents undecided on whether to vaccinate their child against Meningitis need access to good, reliable information, not just sensationalist stuff, said College of GP’s president Dr Jim Vause today.

Immunisation programme managers have vast amounts of material, and those “who just don’t know” might like to discuss it with their GP or general practice team, Dr Vause said.

“There may be times when medicine cannot provide every finite answer that parents would like, but it is every parents’ right to get the good, reliable information.”

Often anecdotal information is being perceived as negative, when families were still looking for information they could trust.

The College of GPs backed the Government immunisation campaign originally, and sees no reason to change.

“The programme itself has put major workload pressures on general practices, but we are coping,” Dr Vause said, and Kiwis will reap the benefits of the programme.

ENDS

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