133 Molesworth Street
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
T+64 4 496 2000
Tracey Livingston
By email:
[FYI request #14927 email]
Ref:
H202102975
Dear Tracey
Response to your request for official information
Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) to the Ministry of
Health (the Ministry) on 16 March 2021 for information related to the Sudden Unexpected Death
in Infancy (SUDI) programme. I have responded to each part of your request below:
“Regarding: The National SUDI Prevention Program and this article published in the NZ
Herald https://scanmail.trustwave.com/?c=15517&d=gc7P4IoHvfuGmP3wonWvxgjbsneFt
LWBSx-
TWxI7vQ&u=https%3a%2f%2fwww%2enzherald%2eco%2enz%2fnz%2funexpected-
infant-deaths-on-the-rise-ministry-to-review-5m-
programme%2f4L3BUEVBVIOMUOTVGZW4PEAVGY%2f
Request one: Since previous CARM Iatrogenesis reports have reported a number of
SIDS/SUDI following vaccination, what efforts has The National SUDI Prevention Program
made to investigate the rate of SUDI post vaccination at 6 weeks and 3 months, 5 months
and one year of age to ensure that there is no correlation between vaccination and SUDI?
Please provide me with any of their investigations into this line of inquiry.
Reports to the Centre for Adverse Reactions Monitoring (CARM) are made on a voluntary basis
and are based on a suspicion that an event may be related to a medicine (including vaccines).
These reports do not include all the adverse reactions that happen in New Zealand and may
include many events that are not related to medicine use.
SIDS/SUDI and immunisation both occur in close temporal association, so it is tempting to
believe there may be a link between the two events. This question has been addressed by a
number of research projects published over the last 25 years, two of which are referenced
below.
The international evidence, including substantial research in New Zealand, has conclusively and
repeatedly found that maternal smoking in pregnancy, infant in prone sleeping position, and
bed-sharing are the main risk factors for SUDI. The association between immunisation and
SIDS/SUDI has been investigated thoroughly and there is either no causal relationship, or
potentially a protective ef ect of immunisation on SIDS/SUDI. New Zealand research carried out
by internationally renowned New Zealand paediatrician Professor Ed Mitchell in 1995 confirmed
this in a large sample of New Zealand infants (Mitchell et al Archives of Disease in
Childhood1995;73:498-501). Exactly the same findings were found in the UK and reported in
the BMJ in 2001 by Dr Peter Fleming,
(https:/ www.bmj.com/content/322/7290/822.full) who
also found that immunisation did not increase the risk of SUDI in the infants studied and the
trend of the association was clearly towards protection.
Current data from New Zealand would also not support a correlation, as SUDI rates are higher
among pēpi Maori, who have a lower immunisation rate in the first year of life compared with
European babies who have higher rates of immunisation and a SUDI rate almost 8.5 times
lower than pēpi Maori.
Since this question has been well studied, the Ministry of Health does not believe it is
appropriate to undertake further research into this issue.
Request two: Since the CARM Iatrogenesis reports have reported a number of SIDS/SUDI
following vaccination, please provide correspondence and discussions to show whether The
National SUDI Prevention Program has investigated the rate of SUDI post vaccination at 6
weeks and 3 months, 5 months and one year of age compared to children who have not receive
any vaccinations?
Refer to answer to Request 1.
Request three: Please provide me information regarding this statement: “in 2019, the ministry
believes 52 babies died of SUDI”. Please tell me if the MOH or The National SUDI Prevention
Program assessed the fol owing data a) the ages of death of these children b) their vaccine
status and that of their mothers during pregnancy and c) any medications that the babies were
being given when they died and d) whether their nutritional status was assessed in any way i.e.
vit C status and e) whether the babies were fed human milk or formula milk? And if so, what
were their findings?
This information wil soon be made publicly available on the Ministry website. As such the
information is withheld under section 18(d) of the Act.
Request Four: Please give me the breakdown of how the $5mil ion/year has been spent
on The National SUDI Prevention Program.
Table One: National SUDI Prevention Program Spending
DHB level service component via Crown Funding Agreements
(CFA)
$ 3,342,297.01
Regional coordination funding
$ 500,000.00
Hāpai te Hauora for National SUDI Prevention Coordination
Service
$ 850,000.00
National SUDI Programme evaluation
$ 200,000.00
WCTO (Parenting Support and Skil s Promotion)
$ 305,000.00
Total funding per annum
$ 5,197,297.01
Page 2 of 3
Request Five: please send me the ‘un-scrubbed’ CARM Iatrogenesis reports for years
2019, and 2020. And if the numbers have been changed for any reason, please provide
me with the original and unaltered data.
Ref: https://scanmail.trustwave.com/?c=15517&d=gc7P4IoHvfuGmP3wonWvxgjbsneFtL
WBSx-
TWxI7vQ&u=https%3a%2f%2fwww%2enzherald%2eco%2enz%2fnz%2funexpected-
infant-deaths-on-the-rise-ministry-to-review-5m-
programme%2f4L3BUEVBVIOMUOTVGZW4PEAVGY%2f”
This part of your request is refused under section 9(2)(a) of the Act, to protect the privacy of
natural persons.
I trust this information fulfils your request. Under section 28(3) of the Act you have the right to
ask the Ombudsman to review any decisions made under this request. The Ombudsman may
be contacted by email at:
[email address] or by calling 0800 802 602.
Please note that this response, with your personal details removed, may be published on the
Ministry website at:
www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/information-releases/responses-official-
information-act-requests.
Yours sincerely
Deborah Woodley
Deputy Director-General
Population Health and Prevention
Page 3 of 3
