An Auckland University Professor wants a nationwide movement to get free after-hours health care for children under the age of six.
Paediatricians have told Capital & Coast District Health Board the health of thousands of poor children living in Porirua is under threat because of a lack of free after-hours care.
Professor Innes Asher, who is also a paediatrician at Starship hospital, says high medical fees stop people from taking their children to the doctor when they get sick after hours.
She says officials at all district health boards need to consider how this can be changed.
