A Respiratory Health Impact Report indicates that poverty is a driver for poor respiratory health.
In a press release by the Child Poverty Monitor, Dr Jean Simpson, director of New Zealand Child and Youth Epidemiology Service (NZCYES) notes “The negative health outcomes associated with child poverty are also starkly apparent in our high rates of hospital admissions for infectious and respiratory diseases. These diseases include bronchiolitis, acute upper respiratory infections, pneumonia and rheumatic fever, which can have lifelong implications for those who have suffered them in childhood. Reducing the number of young children living in poverty is critical to improving the health of the whole population”.
