The Southern District Health Board looks set to overachieve in two child immunisation programmes.
Ministry of Health child and youth health chief adviser Dr Pat Tuohy spent the past two days in the region challenging and informing vaccination teams.
He discussed how things were progressing nationally with the 2-year-old immunisation target, which was to have 95% of the age group vaccinated by June 30.
The Southern DHB had already achieved that target and Dr Tuohy now challenged it to go further.
The board was among about six others to have reached the target, which he put down to the health professionals in the region.
"A lot of the people who have been doing this work have been in this place for a long time, so it's a stable workplace; there is a lot of trust in the child health services here; and the other thing is the population is stable as well. It's really easy for the staff to know nearly all of their clientele," he said.
This allowed health professionals to have relaxed conversations with parents about immunisation, building on trust already established.
Dr Tuohy also discussed a new immunisation goal, to be launched in July.
Earlier this year, the Government announced a target of 95% immunisation coverage of 8-month-olds by December 2012.
The initiative was "building on the gains that we've made" as, nationally, 83% of 8-month-olds were already immunised, and in Otago-Southland more than 85% were.
Four "key messages" would also be shared - enrol, engage, monitor and promote.
The ministry wanted every pregnant woman, and every baby within a few weeks of birth, to be enrolled with a GP.
The GPs could then remind parents about immunisation timelines which would "dramatically improve people's uptake" of the programme.
The immunisation register would also be better utilised, as it could be checked to monitor areas with lower uptake so improvements could be made to accessibility of vaccinations.
Dr Tuohy said immunisation was "one of the most cost-effective health interventions we can make".
"It provides a very simple and effective way of preventing a whole range of serious diseases which can wreck a child's life. Vaccines are like the fence at the top of the cliff."
About 4% of the national population chose not to immunise their children, he said.
However, he believed prevention remained the effective and safe option, particularly as it was fully funded.
