PhD Thesis - ResearchSpace@Auckland - The University of Auckland

triple vaccine (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) were now given at six weeks, three
months and five months with a fourth booster of double vaccine (diphtheria and
pertussis) given at 18 months. An extra booster was also added for polio at 18
months. 1 The decision to start immunising with the triple vaccine at six weeks had
been taken in 1984 by the Communicable Disease Control Advisory Committee
(CDCAC) in conjunction with the Health Department, to give babies more protection
against pertussis. Hepatitis B had been added in 1988. For parents, this meant
allowing their babies to be immunised at a much younger age and taking children for
immunisation on two extra occasions, if the hepatitis B was not given in hospital at
birth.
Social Change
The period 1970 to 1990 was politically, economically and socially a time of great
change in New Zealand. The comprehensive system of state ownership and
protectionism in place in 1970 had been overturned by 1990 with the sale of many
state-owned enterprises under the Lange Government (1984-90). There were changes
in the welfare system, and a necessary diversification of the economy after Britain,
New Zealand’s main export market at the time, joined the European Economic
Community in 1973. 2
One obvious change was in the expansion of tertiary education and this was reflected
in the qualifications of those who held the office of Prime Minister. In 1972 the
country’s leader was Norman Kirk, who had not received any secondary education,
and there were 35,000 students enrolled at the six universities and one agricultural
college. 3 In 1984, David Lange, who was a lawyer, became Prime Minister and the
number of students attending tertiary institutions had risen to 170,000 by 1981 and to
210,000 by 1995. 4 The increased awareness brought by higher levels of education
enabled people to view society more critically and select services with more
discernment than ever before. Historian James Belich has talked of a ‘land
1 See Appendix 1, pp.303-06 for immunisation schedules.
2 For further discussion see J. Belich, Paradise Reforged. A History of New Zealanders, Auckland,
2001, Chapter 14, and M. King, The Penguin History of New Zealand, Auckland, 2003, pp.488-502.
3 K. Sinclair, A History of New Zealand, Auckland, 1990, p.301.
4 ibid., p.422.
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