Meningococcal B is the most common strain of meningitis in New Zealand, and the most deadly, yet this new potentially life-saving vaccine, although widelyavailable in nearly all other developedcountries, including Australia (34 in total), is still not available in New Zealand!!

Even with prompt antibiotic treatment, the risk of death from Meningococcal Disease is approximately 5 – 10%. Furthermore, of the children and adolescents who do survive, approximately 10 – 30% or around 1 in 5 suffer from devastating lifelong disabilities such as loss of limbs, limb deformity, skin scarring, deafness, and neurological deficits.Meningococcal B is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The consequences for the victim are often catastrophic, requiring extended hospital stays, ongoing rehabilitation needs, devastating lifelong disability and a high amount of trauma, stress and burden on family members as victims are often of dependent ages. Please sign this petition now and support this vaccine being made available in New Zealand.