June 8, 2017
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members are being encouraged to “tackle the flu” this season by visiting a mobile vaccination clinic at Kingaroy Hospital on June 13.
The Darling Downs Public Health Unit’s annual influenza vaccination clinic will be visiting the town for just one day.
For the past six years, the unit has delivered clinics across the Darling Downs as part of the “Tackle Flu Before It Tackles You” campaign, offering free flu vaccinations for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The clinic will return to Kingaroy on Tuesday, June 13, and will be held in the Cherbourg Regional Aboriginal and Islander Community Controlled Health Services (CRAICCHS) van which will be parked in the Kingaroy Hospital grounds from 10:00am to 2:00pm.
DDPHU Director Dr Penny Hutchinson said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over who received their flu vaccination at the clinic would also receive a free T-shirt designed by Toowoomba artist David McCarthy.
“Young people especially tend to think they’ll be fine and won’t get sick from the flu when in fact it can become a very serious illness,” Dr Hutchinson said.
“The goal of the Tackle Flu campaign is to encourage people to get vaccinated every year and we hope the specially designed T-shirts we have are a great motivator to get the jab.”
Since the program’s inception in 2011, the Tackle Flu campaign has vaccinated close to 4000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across the Darling Downs region.
Dr Hutchinson hopes to see even more people vaccinated this year.
“It takes just a few minutes of your time and can keep you safe from severe influenza,” she said.
Dr Hutchinson said that as well as an annual vaccination, there were simple additional measures that could be taken to prevent the spread of the flu.
“Washing your hands thoroughly, throwing tissues away immediately after sneezing and staying home when you are sick are easy to do and can make a big difference in keeping the flu at bay,” she said.
