PhD Thesis - ResearchSpace@Auckland - The University of Auckland

60 percent of Maori patients was very keen for the vaccine to be introduced, as 50
percent of Maori children in his practice with measles developed complications. 55
Nonetheless, it is likely that some doctors did not feel able to justify to parents the
advisability of immunisation for their children as they did not regard measles as a
serious threat to the child’s health. As the use of doctors was the linchpin of the
Department’s measles immunisation programme from 1970 it was probable that these
attitudes affected acceptance rates.
Parents had a myriad of views regarding the seriousness of measles which would also
have influenced their decision as to whether to immunise. Most parents felt that
measles was a mild, virtually inevitable childhood infection; but this did not
necessarily indicate their opposition to immunisation. A study of parental attitudes
regarding the measles vaccine revealed that most of the parents who thought of
measles as a minor disease were prepared to have their children immunised ‘to save a
lot of unnecessary sickness and worry…as well as complications’. 56 In contrast a
minority of parents believed measles was a severe disease, but paradoxically, this did
not mean that they accepted immunisation; some of them believed that it was not
necessary as a doctor’s care would suffice. 57 It also came to light that many parents,
although taking a favourable stance on immunisation, wanted more information about
the vaccine before allowing their children to receive it. Publicity regarding the side-
effects of measles vaccine in Britain, which made the front page of the major
newspapers, may also have persuaded parents not to immunise their children. 58
Nevertheless, about half the parents were prepared to accept the advice of the family
doctor without having much prior knowledge about the vaccine themselves. 59
The study undertaken in the Gisborne and Dunedin areas involving nine families and
eight doctors revealed, even with such a small sample, that attitudes towards
immunisation and measles were by no means clear-cut. 60 A belief in the severity of
the illness did not always mean an automatic acceptance for immunisation, just as
55 ibid., p.15.
56 ibid., p.30.
57 ibid., p.35.
58 Auckland Star (AS), 20 March 1969.
59 J. H. Betteridge, ‘Attitudes to Measles and its Prevention by Vaccination’, p.44.
60 J. H. Betteridge, ‘Attitudes to Measles and its Prevention by Vaccination. A Survey conducted in the
Gisborne and Dunedin districts’, PMD, Otago, 1968,
176