Background
The NZPSU is co-directed by Dr Ben Wheeler and Dr Mavis Duncanson. From it's inception in 1997 the NZPSU has received financial support from the New Zealand Ministry of Health to provide active surveillance of acute flaccid paralysis as part of WHO's polio eradication initiative. Each month 245 paediatricicians are sent a surveillance card covering a child population of 0.86 million. The response rate remains high at 91%. The unit is working closely with the APSU with protocols and questionnaires developed for some APSU studies also being used for some NZPSU studies. This process will allow data to be collected simultaneously in two geographically distinct populations.
Contact Details
Dr Ben Wheeler (Co-Director)
Dr Mavis Duncanson (Co-Director)
Department of Paediatrics and Child Health
Dunedin School of Medicine
University of Otago, PO Box 913
Dunedin, New Zealand
Tel: 0064 3 474 7825