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Partnership for Cleveland Children's Vaccinations Announced

Posted on: Monday, 17 July 2006, 09:01 CDT

CLEVELAND, July 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly half of young children in Cleveland lack immunizations that help prevent deadly childhood illnesses like measles, mumps and whooping cough. Today, the Cleveland Department of Public Health (CDPH), the Ohio Department of Health (ODH), the Consortium for Healthy and Immunized Children (CHIC), the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, and the national organization Every Child By Two (ECBT) announced a new partnership and campaign, "Immunize On Time, Every Time!" to increase childhood vaccination rates in Cleveland.

"No child in Cleveland should be left unprotected from life-threatening illnesses because they were not vaccinated on time. The CDPH is working tirelessly with ODH and ECBT to ensure that every child's vaccinations are up- to-date and recorded by healthcare physicians," said Jeannie Johnson-Brooks, RN, BSN, the director of nursing at the Cleveland Department of Public Health.

In Cleveland, only 55 percent of children younger than 2 years have received all of their necessary vaccinations to help prevent diphtheria, pertussis (also known as whooping cough), tetanus, polio, measles, mumps and rubella. The new partnership will work closely with children's health care professionals to avoid missed opportunities to provide immunizations to children by encouraging the use of a confidential, computerized information system run by the Ohio Department of Health, IMPACT SIIS, the Statewide Immunization Information System, which records children's immunization histories and provides this information to authorized physicians.

"State immunization registries, like Ohio's IMPACT SIIS, are a great tool for helping parents and doctors get children immunized on time, every time," said Amy Pisani, ECBT's executive director. "Cleveland is one of four cities -- along with Newark, Las Vegas, and Houston -- where Every Child By Two is collaborating on its 'Immunize On Time, Every Time!' health disparities project. We are pleased to be able to support Cleveland in its efforts to protect all of its children."

Cleveland Kids Vaccination Registration Drive Begins at KidsFest

At this week's KidsFest on Saturday, July 22, parents can visit the Cleveland Department of Public Health's mobile van to check their children's vaccination status or enroll their children in the confidential Ohio Immunization registry, IMPACT SIIS. The van will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will be located in the Flats at the Tower Amphitheater. No reservations are necessary. Parents can call 216-664-3609 for additional information.

Parents are strongly encouraged to bring their children's immunization records to KidsFest. Children who have their immunization information available and enroll in IMPACT SIIS on Saturday, July 22, can receive a free gift. Parents also will receive a list of 34 sites in Cleveland providing free vaccinations.

IMPACT SIIS provides a single source of children's vaccination records in Ohio. The database also allows healthcare providers to send reminders to parents when their children are due for shots. Now families can feel secure knowing that their children's immunization histories can travel with them if they switch health care providers or move within Ohio, Johnson-Brooks explained.

Even though U.S. immunization rates have climbed in recent years, many children are not up-to-date with their immunizations. According to a recent U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, only 75 percent of African American children younger than 3 years are immunized for the combined recommended series of vaccines, compared with 84 percent of Caucasian children.

One reason for the lag in immunization rates are missed opportunities at the doctor's office to check a child's vaccination status and then provide the needed vaccines. Having Ohio health care providers use the IMPACT SIIS registry is one strategy for keeping children up-to-date with immunizations. During the coming months the alliance will be working to link pediatricians and family practitioners in Cleveland with the registry so that when a new patient comes for a check-up, doctors can access that child's immunization records with the click of a button.

ECBT

Founded in 1991 by Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter and Former First Lady of Arkansas, Betty Bumpers, ECBT works to protect all children from vaccine preventable diseases by raising parental awareness of the critical need for timely infant immunizations, fostering the establishment of a systematic method to locate and immunize children, and providing convenient access to immunization services into the future.

Cleveland Department of Public Health

The Cleveland Department of Public Health is committed to improving the quality of life in the City of Cleveland by promoting health behavior, protecting the environment, preventing disease, and making the city a healthy place to live, work and visit.

Cleveland Department of Public Health; Every Child By Two

CONTACT: Carey Meyers of Porter Novelli, +1-212-601-8248; or TamaraMcBride of the Cleveland Department of Public Health, +1-216-664-3921; orJennifer Zavolinsky of Every Child By Two, +1-202-783-7034

Source: PRNewswire

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