Kiwanis International - Kiwanis Club of Drury

Drury Kiwanis Club supports Kidsafe Week

For the fourth consecutive year the Kiwanis Club of Drury was part of the Papakura Coalition for Kidsafe Week 12-19 October, 2001, with club member Dianne French again acting as coordinator. During this week certain aspects of child safety are targeted as a theme throughout New Zealand. The themes this year were: Prevention of accidental poisonings in the 0-4 age group. Child passenger safety in the 0-14 age group.

Drury club members Dianne French (center) and Stella Penn (right) present a supply of poisons safety stickers to a Papakura pharmacist.

The Kiwanis Club of Drury produced, and widely distributed, the fourth 'in a series of child safety pamphlets, "Hey-Lock Them Away" which deals with the safe storage of common poisonous substances found around the home and garden. The other initiative for Kidsafe Week was the printing of 10,000 bright safety stickers which were used by every pharmacy in the area to attach to prescriptions dispensed during the week, so the Kiwanis name was went into thousands of local homes.

The local member of Parliament was also approached to lobby the Government for an increase of medicines dispensed in child resistant packaging (CRCs). Prior to the introduction of CRCs, children's liquid paracetamol was responsible for an average of 41 poisonings each year but in 1999, these dropped by 71% with only 12 child poisonings from this substance recorded. There could be a bigger reduction still if more pharmaceuticals and other dangerous substances were in child resistant packaging.

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