Pursuant to sections 88(1) and (3) of the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000, and with the approval of the Minister of Health under section 89(3) of that Act, the Northland District Health Board, Waitemata District Health Board, Auckland District Health Board, Counties Manukau District Health Board, Waikato District Health Board, Lakes District Health Board, Bay of Plenty District Health Board, Tairawhiti District Health Board, Taranaki District Health Board, Hawke’s Bay District Health Board, Whanganui District Health Board, MidCentral District Health Board, Hutt District Health Board, Capital & Coast District Health Board, Wairarapa District Health Board, Nelson Marlborough District Health Board, West Coast District Health Board, Canterbury District Health Board, South Canterbury District Health Board, Otago District Health Board and Southland District Health Board give the following notice.
N o t i c e
1. Title—(1) This notice is the Advice Notice to General Practitioners Concerning Patient Benefits and Other Subsidies (Amendment No. 8).
(2) In this notice, the Advice Notice to General Practitioners Concerning Patient Benefits and Other Subsidies1 is called the “principal notice”.
2. Commencement—This notice comes into force on 1 July 2008.
3. Amendment—Schedule 3 of Part B of the principal notice is amended as follows:
(a) Clause 2.1(d) is amended by omitting “(including MeNZB™)”.
(b) Clause 3A is omitted and the following is substituted:
“3A Meningococcal B immunisation
3A.1 From 1 June 2008 the meningococcal B vaccine programme will be stopped. Babies will no longer routinely be offered MeNZB™ vaccine.
3A.2 A child may complete a course of MeNZB™ vaccine. Parents and children should be encouraged to complete the course before 31 December 2008, although the vaccine will still be available after that date.
3A.3 If a parent of a child or young person up to 19 years of age requests that the child receives a course of MeNZB™ vaccine, and the general practitioner agrees, the MeNZB™ vaccine is available and funded.
A general practitioner may start the child’s course of MeNZB™ without further authorisation and the Immunisation Benefit may be claimed.
3A.4 The MeNZB™ vaccine will still be available for individuals of any age with a high risk of invasive meningococcal infection and specific conditions (included in the Immunisation Handbook and amendments notified by the Ministry of Health).
3A.5 Primary Health Organisations and general practitioners shall administer a course of three MeNZB™ doses and
a fourth MeNZB™ dose for eligible children who received the 1st dose of MeNZB™ under six months of age, or as otherwise advised by the Ministry of Health.
3A.6 MeNZB™ vaccine will be supplied and distributed through the Ministry of Health’s nominated vaccine distributor at no cost to immunisation providers.”
(c) Clause 4.6 is amended by omitting “$17.43” and substituting “$17.92” in both places where it occurs.
(d) Clause 5.5 is amended by omitting “$17.43” and substituting “$17.92”.
(e) Clause 5.7 is amended by omitting “$17.43” and substituting “$17.92”.
(f) Clause 5.8 is amended by omitting “$17.43” and substituting “$17.92”.
4. Statement of reasons for departure from terms and conditions of the principal notice for purposes of section 89(5) of the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000—The terms and conditions in this notice depart from the terms
and conditions in the principal notice for the following reasons:
(a) To increase the subsidised fee for immunisations by 2.8%;
(b) to update some terms and conditions of the principal notice
1In force 1 May 2000:
Amendment No. 1: Supplement to New Zealand Gazette, 19 December 2001, No. 172, page 4201
Amendment No. 2: New Zealand Gazette, 20 June 2002, No. 67, page 1769
Amendment No. 3: New Zealand Gazette, 15 April 2004, No. 42, page 1068
Amendment No. 4: New Zealand Gazette, 5 May 2005, No. 76, page 1794
Amendment No. 5: New Zealand Gazette, 1 September 2005, No. 152, page 3752
Amendment No. 6: New Zealand Gazette, 29 June 2006, No. 73, page 1867
Amendment No. 7: Supplement to New Zealand Gazette, 27 June 2007, No. 73, page 1845