Western NSW is leading Australia in the immunisation of five-year-old children.
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A new report shows 96 per cent of all five-year-old children living within the boundaries of the Western NSW Primary Health Network (WNSW PHN) in 2016/2017 were fully immunised.
Only 170 of all five-year-old children in the region, encompassing the Western and Far West NSW local health districts, were not up to date with their vaccinations.
Immunisation rates for children 2016/2017 by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare revealed nationally 93.5 per cent of all five-year-old children were fully immunised.
All 31 primary health networks in Australia achieved a rate of at least 90 per cent with Western NSW’s 96 per cent the best and the North Coast’s 90.6 per cent the worst.
The institute reported the percentage of all five-year-old children fully immunised across 325 “local areas” ranged from 98 per cent in both Tumut-Tumbarumba and Broken Hill and the Far West, to 77.5 per cent in Adelaide City. Dubbo’s rate sat between 95 and 100 per cent with 30 five-year-old children not fully immunised.
The new report provides rates for all children and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged one, two and five years. In Western NSW, 95.3 per cent of all one-year-old children and 93 per cent of all two year-old children were fully immunised. A total of 659 children aged five years and under were not fully immunised.
The rate of immunisation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged one, two and five years in Western NSW was 92.9 per cent, 88.8 per cent and 97 per cent, respectively. A total of 186 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children across the three age groups still needed vaccinations including 26 five-year-olds.
Chief executive officer of the WNSW PHN Andrew Harvey said it worked closely with general practices and the local health districts to provide immunisation education and promotion programs for nurses, doctors and Aboriginal health workers. He highlighted the running of an annual immunisation conference in Orange and Dubbo with support from the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance. “We are thrilled with these new immunisation numbers that show families in Western NSW continue to make the right health choices for their children,” Mr Harvey said.
