THE VACCINATION STATUS OF ABORIGINAL CHILDREN IN THE NORTH COAST HEALTH REGION OF NEW-SOUTH-WALES

Objective: To determine the vaccination status of Aboriginal children resident in the North Coast Health Region of NSW. Design: Cross-sectio nal descriptive study. Setting and participants: The vaccination statu s of Aboriginal children aged 4 months to 11 years and resident in sel ected villages/isolated communities, small and large towns in the Nort h Coast Health Region of NSW was determined by review of vaccination r ecords. Data were obtained from general practitioners, the Aboriginal Health Service, Community Health Centres and Local Government Councils . Main outcome measures: Vaccination status according to the childhood immunisation schedule recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Council, defined as fully or partially documented, with a gen erous lag time. Results: The study population comprised 1179 children - 55% of the estimated Aboriginal population under 12 years of age in the North Coast Health Region. Data collection on Sabin vaccine was in complete and was not included in the analysis. Of 1094 children whose records were analysed, 9% had fully documented and 27% fully or partia lly documented evidence of up-to-date vaccinations. For measles vaccin ation, 28% of children aged 18 months or more had fully documented and 35% fully or partially documented evidence of vaccination. There was no fully documented evidence of any vaccinations for 52% of children. Conclusion: The vaccination status of Aboriginal children in the North Coast Health Region is poor. The 1989-1990 National Health Survey sho wed overall vaccination rates for NSW and Australia to be more than tw ice those found for this population.