Street Maryan: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Street Maryan: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 11 December 2012. Volume:686;Page:7324. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
7. 
Hon MARYAN STREET (Labour) 
 to the  
Minister of Health 
: Is he satisfied with the state of children’s health in New Zealand; if not why not? 
Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health) 
: 
 For the great majority of New Zealand children yes. But for some children in New Zealand the state of their health does need to improve and that is why the Government despite tight times has spent billions extra to support these children and their families. Twenty-eight thousand kids at 148 schools are part of the rheumatic fever programme 93 percent of children aged 2 are now fully immunised over 90 percent of children under 6 are now getting free doctors’ visits including after hours and the Government has funded targeted additional Well Child visits. We have also received a number of new reports. We agree with some recommendations but not others and we will be considering these over time. 
Hon Maryan Street 
: Taking those statistics and figures that he likes to trot out into account why have hospital admission rates for children with acute upper respiratory tract infections viral infections skin infections dermatitis and eczema and some vaccine-preventable diseases increased over the last 3 years and what does he intend to do about it? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: Yes some causes of hospitalisation have increased whereas others have decreased. But overall the latest report I think the  
Children’s Social Health Monitor 
 shows that we are having a reduction in those numbers of hospital presentations. The causes of those of course are quite multi-factorial. 
Hon Maryan Street 
: Why do admission rates for socioeconomically sensitive medical conditions remain much higher for Pacific children and then for Maori children than for European and other children and what does he intend to do about that? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: As I have said there are indications that those hospitalisations are now beginning to reduce. What is the Government doing? We are doing a number of things. We have grown the number of doctors and practices that provide free visits to children by 25 percent where we now have 93 percent of New Zealand children able to go to primary care for free if they are under the age of 5. We have extended that to after hours. We are also investing $24 million in a rheumatic fever programme and very important a number of Government departments have contributed to the tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of homes that have benefited from the Government’s home insulation programme. 
Hon Maryan Street 
: Why are rates of sudden unexpected death in infancy very unequally distributed with rates for babies from the most deprived 20 percent being over six times higher than for babies from the least deprived 20 percent of areas and over four times higher for Maori babies; and what does he intend to do about that? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: Yes the Government is quite concerned about the rates of sudden unexpected death in infancy. The advice we have received is that there are two major interventions that could assist in reducing these numbers. One is reducing the prevalence of smoking of which the Government has an unparalleled record of achievement. The second is in the area of providing safer sleeping spaces. Quite a lot of activity is happening around the country in that area including 4000 pepi-pods which have been made available to new mothers around the country. 
Hon Maryan Street 
: Does the Minister have any specific plans to address in the next Budget unequal health outcomes arising from poverty; if not why not? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: The member will have to wait until the next Budget to see those but what I can tell the member is that in a series of Budgets this Government has invested in order to improve the health status of all New Zealand children. If I was to take for example immunisation it was only 4 years ago that 67 percent of New Zealand’s 2-year-olds were fully immunised with a marked contrast between Maori Pacific and European. Through the funding and effort of this Government we have now closed that gap to where 93 percent of New Zealand children are fully immunised and Pacific children are I think now at 96 percent fully immunised. So we have closed the gap through focus and effort and that is certainly the Government’s record.