Autumn 2021 | Page 9

Education Updates :
The Arms Act 2020
There has been a lot of communication to the General Practitioners ( GP ) and relevant GP groups about the new obligations of health practitioners related to the Arms Act 2020 . Interestingly , it appears that this information may not have been distributed to nurses and it is vitally important that we know about this also as we are health practitioners in our own right .
Therefore , if you have not been made aware of these changes to our obligations under this act , I would suggest clicking on the link below to appraise yourselves of the changes .
https :// www . mahitahihauora . c o . nz / uploads / Arms % 20Act % 20 1983 ,% 20Info % 20for % 20Health % 20Practitioners % 20- % 20Nov % 202020 % 20 ( 1 ). pdf
Miwa ’ s Story – Why we need to ensure parents and teenagers have all the relevant health information about vaccinations .
Editors Note : I recently had the privilege of listening to Miwa ’ s father Paul Chapman on a Webinar session about meningococcal disease and vaccination , speaking from a parent ’ s perspective . The NZCPHCN had also received an email from Paul asking us how we can get the message out .
The following is their story , and I cannot stress enough the importance of NEVER assuming that they ( parents / carers / teenagers / fami ly ) have been given all the information about vaccinations . At EVERY opportunity / visit we need to check in with them to find out what they know . We cannot assume that someone else has done it already . We also cannot assume that they don ’ t want to know or can ’ t afford vaccinations – that is THEIR decision NOT ours .
Miwa ’ s Story – written by her father Paul Chapman
In February of last year ( 2020 ), my daughter died of Meningitis , or more specifically , Meningococcal Septicaemia . She was a 19 year old student in her second year of an Engineering Degree at the University of Canterbury .
The loss of our darling daughter , Miwa , has devastated our family , but it was terribly tragic to discover that we could have protected her if we had known that it was possible to be vaccinated against this terrible disease .
As part of dealing with my grief , and trying to make Miwa ' s death seem less meaningless , I contacted the RNZCGP ' s to see if there was anything that they could do to help raise awareness of the need to
Autumn 2021 L . O . G . I . C 8