State homes making kids sick: doctor

The ‘‘appalling Third World conditions’’ of Auckland’s state housing are making children chronically sick, a leading doctor says.

Dr Lance O’Sullivan recently moved from the Far North to Auckland, and said he ‘‘thought he knew what poverty was’’.

On his second day working in Auckland, the GP met a 28-yearold single mother, raising two boys, aged 4 and 9, who feared her home was contributing to their poor health.

Her youngest son was chronically unwell with asthma and respiratory problems. O’Sullivan said he asked her why.

‘‘She looked up at me and said ‘Dr Lance, I think my home is making my kids sick’.’’

When O’Sullivan asked to see the home, it was cold, damp and had mould on the walls and ceilings, he said on Facebook.

Water was also dripping inside the rooms where the boys slept.

O’Sullivan said it was something he ‘‘never thought he would see in this city’’.

‘‘I asked her who her landlord was, and she told me it was Housing New Zealand.’’

O’Sullivan issued a challenge to Housing Minister Phil Twyford to talk to Health Minister David Clark about the condition of Auckland’s state housing.

The Government introduced

‘‘I can’t fix these kids if you don’t fix these homes.’’ Dr Lance O’Sullivan, who wants the Government to improve public housing

measures to make homes healthier, including that landlords must ensure homes meet minimum standards. But ‘‘they are failing the people of this country,’’ said O’Sullivan.

‘‘I can’t fix these kids if you don’t fix these homes.’’

Mould and damp in New Zealand homes has been linked to the country’s high rates of asthma.

One in nine adults in New Zealand have asthma, compared with one in 20 worldwide. In addition, respiratory disease is the third leading cause of death here.

To help tackle the problem, O’Sullivan said he had set up a Facebook page, called My House Makes Me Sick, where he wanted people to share their stories with Twyford.

Since creating the page, he has been contacted by a number of people with similar stories.

This was ‘‘concerning’’, he told Stuff yesterday. ‘‘It shouldn’t take me to highlight this problem for Housing New Zealand to take notice.’’