Doctor left her mark on children’s health
One of New Zealand’s leading doctors, who had a passionate determination to improve the lives of children, has passed away unexpectedly.
Professor Diana Lennon died suddenly on May 15 after a career as a world-class researcher, inspiring teacher and superb doctor.
Her efforts led to advances in the clinical care of children and those with infectious diseases, and a change in government policy resulting in healthier state housing.
Colleague Professor Innes Asher said “Dinny” Lennon had an extremely long list of achievements. They included being named Plunket Woman of the Year in 1992, an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2005 for services to science, and the Dame Joan Metge Medal of the Royal Society of NZ in 2008.
She had work in about 265 publications, including 192 journal articles.
“But Dinny was not one to collect and count these outputs, in fact she eschewed such processes,” Innes said in an obituary penned for the University of Auckland, where they worked.
“Far more important to her was making a difference to the health of children, which she did in spades.”
Graduating from Otago University Medical School in 1972, Lennon studied and worked abroad before serving as a specialist in paediatric infectious diseases at Starship and Middlemore hospitals and consulting around the country.
“She was generous, her advice was sought after,” Asher said.
Lennon also played a lead role in important health issues affecting the country and shaping national vaccine policy.
This included being a key part of the team tackling the meningococcal B epidemic through the 1990s to 2000s.
She worked tirelessly at a national and international level to develop a vaccine before setting up clinical trials that culminated in the mass MeNZB vaccination programme in 2004 and 2005, according to Asher.
These efforts greatly reduced deaths and disability from meningococcal disease.
In 1991 she also “drew attention to the huge inequities in child health with her lecture entitled Health in the Ghetto”, Asher said.
“Subsequent research findings that crowding was the greatest risk factor for meningococcal disease led on to Housing NZ building larger, healthier state homes.”
Professor Michael Baker from Otago worked with Lennon on a number of research projects, including one in which they presented their findings together just days before she died.
He called her an “unforgettable figure in paediatrics”.
He said specialists in paediatrics and public health now all accepted that the biggest single factor in infectious diseases in children was whether a person was born in a wealthy or deprived environment.
“And Dinny contributed substantially to creating that awareness.”