Source: Asthma and Respiratory Foundation
The Government must urgently fund RSV protection, expand free flu vaccinations, and tackle unhealthy housing, as record numbers of children are being hospitalised with respiratory illness, a leading respiratory charity warns.
Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ is backing calls in the newly released Cure Kids 2026 State of Child Health Report, which shows hospitalisation rates for acute respiratory conditions in children and adolescents have increased by 60% over the past 25 years.
Respiratory conditions now account for one in five hospitalisations among children and adolescents in Aotearoa New Zealand, rising to more than one in three for infants under one year old.
Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ Chief Executive Ms Letitia Harding says the figures should force immediate action.
“More children are ending up in hospital struggling to breathe, and we know much of this is preventable.
“That should be unacceptable to any government.”
Funding has already been pulled back for flu vaccines for some of our most at-risk children and communities, while access to new RSV protections has been delayed, Ms Harding says.
“This report shows the real-world impact of those decisions.”
The Government needs to urgently fund nirsevimab (a monoclonal antibody against RSV), fund free flu vaccinations, and provide sustained investment in warm, dry, and affordable housing, she says.
“If we are serious about child wellbeing in Aotearoa, then preventing respiratory illness must be treated as a national priority.
“If nothing changes, we will keep seeing the same children come through hospital doors, with Māori, Pacific, and low-income families bearing the heaviest burden.”
Foundation Medical Director and respiratory physician Professor Bob Hancox says the report shows that children in Aotearoa are suffering from a huge burden of unnecessary respiratory disease.
“The 60% increase in hospitalisations and the stark differences in hospitalisation rates between children from different socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds demonstrate that most of these are preventable.
“Things that could be done immediately to reduce respiratory disease are funding of Nirsevimab for infants and flu vaccines for all children under 5,” Professor Hancox says.
“In the longer term, our society needs to address ethic and socioeconomic inequalities, improve access to primary care, and make sure that all tamariki enjoy the health benefits of warm and dry housing.”
Nirsevimab has been shown to reduce rates of RSV internationally and is currently under consideration by Medsafe and Pharmac, he says.
