PhD Thesis - ResearchSpace@Auckland - The University of Auckland

immunisation was to be presented ‘on the lines of assisting a natural process’ so it
would have ‘less tendency to antagonise the anti-vivisectionists’. 102 ‘Treading slowly
and carefully’ was the byword of departmental policy in the 1930s.
The impact made by the BUAV on parents by 1940 is difficult to gauge given the
inconsistencies of implementation of diphtheria immunisation. It is likely that it
might have influenced some parents not to immunise their children, but as many
parents were not prepared to take that risk anyway until there was a diphtheria
epidemic the BUAV’s overall influence would have been small, just reinforcing some
parental views. Alternatively, it might have persuaded those wavering not to
immunise. Certainly the BUAV campaign grew in the post-war years as a concerted
effort was made by the Department to immunise all children against diphtheria. Its
impact will be discussed in further detail in the next chapter.
Another anti-immuniser just beginning to make his views known was Ulric Williams,
a medical doctor situated in Wanganui. Although he had practised conventional
medicine up until the early 1930s a ‘vision of Christ’ convinced him to adhere to a
more natural and less interventionist way of life. He became a teetotaller and
interested in naturopathy as a method of treatment. A nourishing diet, exercise, fresh
air and sunlight amongst other things were all necessary in his view for a healthy
lifestyle. 103 Williams now became a ‘vigorous opponent of immunisation’ and would
ask at public meetings, ‘How do you expect to help your healthy children by injecting
them with the blood of diseased horses?’ 104 As a consequence of these and other
actions, Williams was expelled from the New Zealand Medical Association in 1936
for ‘gross breaches of ethical rules’ and the Medical Council attempted to have him
deregistered in 1941 following the death of a patient. 105 Williams certainly had
influence in and around Wanganui where he lived; immunisation figures were often
low. He periodically wrote anti-immunisation letters to the local press, the national
102
M. Champtaloup to DGH, 23 May 1933, H1 131/11/6 B.92, ANZ, Wellington.
103
B. Hamilton, ‘Williams, Ulric Gastor 1890-1971’, DNZB, updated 7 July 2005.
URL: http://www.dbnz.govt.nz/
104
R. E. Wright-Sinclair, A History of the New Zealand Medical Association, Wellington, 1987, p.65.
Wright-Sinclair pointed out that diphtheria antitoxin which is used to treat diphtheria is made from
horse serum, not the vaccine itself.
105
ibid., p.65. Also B. Hamilton, ‘Williams, Ulric Gastor 1890-1971’, DNZB, updated 7 July 2005.
URL: http://www.dbnz.govt.nz/
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