Dr Lance O'Sullivan: It was when my daughter got sick that I realised how important immunisation is
Dr Lance O'Sullivan writes from the heart, and from the head: "It was 1996 and we were young parents. I was at medical school when I came upon an anti-immunisation pamphlet left in one of our lecture theatres.
"I was suspicious of the establishment at the time. You need to understand, I had grown up a welfare-dependent "half-caste" (I hate that term) boy living with his mother, escaping from a life of alcohol, crime and a level of violence that I would not tolerate for my daughters. An under-achiever, I was expelled from two secondary schools. I feel I had a reason to be angry at "the system".
"Then I became a father. It changed my life. I needed to be a responsible adult caring for a son, then a daughter – eventually seven children. We were young parents and wanted to do only the best for these precious beings.
"I read the pamphlet. It described "studies" in the Netherlands into communities that didn't look like mine, but I took little persuasion. I stated our second child, our little daughter Te Miringa, would not be immunised.
"At the time my wife Tracy was working as a nurse at the local medical centre and immunising children daily. Yet this was my protest against the establishment that I so mistrusted.
"Fifteen months later, we had a scare. Te Miringa became unwell with high fever and a body rash and the doctors were concerned as there was a measles outbreak locally. And I realised the information from the Netherlands did not reflect my reality.
"We got Te Miringa immunised."
www.stuff.co.nz...
Who would have thought walking could have been so dangerous!
Wow!
In 2022 there were 33 fatal crashes, 245 serious injury crashes, and 590 minor injury crashes where pedestrians were involved.
In these crashes, 34 people walking died, 240 people walking were seriously injured, and 595 people walking suffered minor injuries.
Most injuries occur in the young (5 - 29yrs), then 50+yrs, with the highest number of child pedestrians injured between 2pm and 4pm, followed by 4pm to 6pm and 8am to 10am.
Emergency Cards and Tags, ensure first responders have instant access to crucial medical details if any, and can notify loved ones much faster, providing peace of mind when every minute counts.
Protect someone you love and give yourself peace of mind that should an accident or medical event occur, you can be contacted without delay.
www.emergencycards.co.nz...
Data sourced from www.transport.govt.nz...
Poll: Do you think NZ should ban social media for youth?
The Australian Prime Minister has expressed plans to ban social media use for children.
This would make it illegal for under 16-year-olds to have accounts on platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X.
Social media platforms would be tasked with ensuring children have no access (under-age children and their parents wouldn’t be penalised for breaching the age limit)
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Do you think NZ should follow suit? Vote in our poll and share your thoughts below.
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85.6% Yes
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13.3% No
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1.1% Other - I'll share below
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