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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 04 Hansard (Wednesday, 31 March 2004) . . Page.. 1401 ..

calling on the federal government for the past six months to implement the council’s recommendations. In November 2003 Dr Rice said:

The Communicable Disease Network of Australia has made invasive pneumococcal disease a notifiable disease and the NHMRC has recommended that all Australian children be immunised against it. While the Government has agreed to fund pneumococcal immunisation for children in high risk groups, not all high risk groups have been included, most notably children in childcare centres. At the very least, free pneumococcal immunisation should be available to all children in childcare. Ideally, the vaccine should be funded for all Australian children in an effort to eradicate the disease.

The vaccine is available privately, but at a cost of $150 per dose, with three doses required, it is out of the price range of many Australian families, particularly those with more than one child. Dr Rice went on to say that the AMA was stunned by the federal government’s decision to financially penalise parents who immunise their children against the disease. I quote Dr Rice:

The current schedule clearly discriminates against lower income families. Parents who want to follow the best scientific advice on immunisation will now have to pay more than $500 from their own pockets to have their children fully immunised...the community is now confused and does not understand why the government has failed to implement the recommendation of its expert advisory committee. We run the risk that immunisation rates may fall to unacceptably low levels again. We must not allow this to happen.

This is the first time the federal government will not subsidise all the vaccines recommended by its advisory body. What message does this send to Australian parents? An authoritative body says the vaccine should be given to all Australian children, but the federal government says no.

While some people will be able to afford the vaccine, many others will not. It should not matter whether you are born into a rich family or a poor family, you should, as an infant, be entitled to all of the vaccines that the medical authorities recommend. The effect of this will be that families who have the disposable income available will go to their GP. The GP will say, “This is the recommended set of vaccines,” and they will pay the $600 per child necessary to ensure that their child is immunised against pneumococcal.

But low income families will take their child to the GP and, although they will be told their child should have the vaccine, when they look at their budget they just will not be able to afford it and they will say, “I will just have to take the risk.” What a terrible position to put parents in. Why should those who do not have a high disposable income be forced to choose between their children’s health and paying their bills?

Dr Jenny Royal from Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital told the ABC’s 7.30 Report recently that she wrestles daily with recommending a vaccine she knows can save lives, but knows many cannot afford. Dr Royal said:

I think the current system is unfair…At my immunisation clinic, I saw a family with three young children under the age of three years and we discussed this vaccine. It was so difficult for me to recommend a vaccine, which clearly was very expensive

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