PhD Thesis - ResearchSpace@Auckland - The University of Auckland

There is still much scope for more research on the history of immunisation both inside
and outside New Zealand. From 1990 in New Zealand there was a good deal of
further development in terms of informed consent and parental awareness, the
introduction of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR) in 1992 and the
launch of the Immunisation Register in 2005. Elsewhere, in countries such as Britain,
there has been increasing controversy regarding immunisation with concerns raised
over MMR in the 1990s. Some vaccines, such as the oral polio vaccine, have been
replaced in several countries such as New Zealand and the United States, because of
side-effects. Other countries, with their differing social policies and other influences,
have also demonstrated different ideas and practices regarding immunisation making
comparative studies of particular importance in this field.
From a historical perspective the story of immunisation was most usually told within
the wider framework of the narrative of a particular disease. My thesis has attempted
to present a more comprehensive picture of the history of immunisation by focusing
on it in its own right. As such, my work has aimed to contribute to both the New
Zealand and international historiography as little has previously been written about
immunisation. My thesis has also placed the New Zealand experience into an
international context which many studies in this field have not tried to do.
Furthermore, it has attempted to provide a valuable social insight into one country’s
experience with immunisation.
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