Immunisation inequity
February 12, 2014
The Government must address
vaccine inequity among Australian
seniors, Parliament House heard
today.
National Seniors Australia (NSA)
presented parliament with a report
developed by its Productive Ageing
Centre and commissioned by
bioCSL, ‘Seniors and immunisation
in Australia: Awareness,
experiences and attitudes’, which
surveyed 793 Australians aged 50
years and over between Dec and
Jan.
The report found that 50% of
those who had difficulty funding
their household and medicine
expenses would be unwilling to
self-fund the shingles vaccine, but
more than 90% would consider the
vaccination if it were government
funded.
NSA said while vaccines for 12
childhood diseases were funded
by the Government on the
National Immunisation Program
(NIP) only two of the four that
Australian immunisation guidelines
recommended for older people
were funded, the NSA said.
Australia could extend its
childhood immunisation program
to include adults, and thus provide
a ‘whole of life’ approach to
immunisation, NSA said.
The address comes before the
Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory
Committee (PBAC) meeting
in March, where Zostavax, a
prevention treatment for shingles,
produced by bioCSL, will be
considered for inclusion on the NIP.
ANZ Society for Geriatric Medicine
Austin Health senior geriatrician
associate professor Michael
Woodward said shifting the focus
to a whole of life immunisation will
only become increasingly important
in coming years.
Ensuring public health policy
is geared towards reducing the
burden of vaccine preventable
diseases, regardless of age, he
continued, will positively impact
the economic and social wellbeing
of the country.
The push is supported by clinical
experts around the country through
media outreach including National
Centre for Immunisation Research
& Surveillance clinical research
head Professor Robert Booy.
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