Assessing the potential impact of funding meningococcal vaccines for children eligible for a Community Services Card on reducing disparity in disease outcomes
While much rarer than other infectious diseases, invasive meningococcal disease has high case severity. Almost all cases are hospitalised and, even with optimal inpatient treatment, death and survival with significant longer term complications occurs in a significant minority, making meningococcal disease feared in the New Zealand (NZ) community.
Children under 5 years of age, and Māori and Pacific suffer a disproportionate burden of meningococcal disease with the highest rates in NZ.
Currently NZ only funds meningococcal vaccines for immune-comprised individuals and young people entering close-living facilities. Meningococcal vaccines are available for purchase on the private market in NZ however, not all parents can afford to provide their children with the protection these vaccines offer.
We propose examining the meningococcal disease burden of children of community services card holders using administrative health data, as a possible mechanism for providing targeted funding to these children as a means of improving equity.
Supervisors
Key qualifications and skills
Knowledge of the Statistical software SAS, or happy to learn.
Does the project come with funding
No - student must be self-funded.
Final date for receiving applications
Ongoing
Keywords
public health; child health; adminstrative data; meningococcal disease
