Taking public health to the streets: the 1998 Auckland Meningococcal Disease Awareness Program.

Since 1991, New Zealand has experienced a dramatic increase in cases of serogroup B meningococcal disease. Early in 1998, a program was initiated in Auckland to raise awareness among high-risk communities about the early clinical features of meningococcal disease and appropriate action to take. The campaign was conducted largely through door-to-door visiting by Maori and Pacific Islands lay educators, who visited more than 11,000 households and engaged more than 9,000 people in discussion. Significantly greater awareness was found in people visited by lay educators than those not visited. For the first time in 5 years, there were no meningococcal deaths among the target population for the 6 months from the start of the campaign. Home visiting by lay educators is an effective and highly acceptable means of communicating important health information to populations at high risk of meningococcal disease in New Zealand and should be considered for other public health campaigns.