(KANSAS CITY, KAN.) – Congressman Dennis Moore (Third District -- Kansas) joined local health care providers today to announce a new initiative designed to boost the number of children who receive vaccinations against preventable illness in Wyandotte County.

“Kids who start healthy have a better chance to stay healthy,” Moore said during a news conference at the Unified Government Public Health Department. “We need to educate parents about the importance of early immunizations and encourage heath care providers to improve access to immunizations so that we protect our families and communities.”

While the dedication of Kansas professionals has resulted in a steady increase in immunizations in the state, there are still far too many children who are not getting immunized on time. Wyandotte County has an immunization rate of 66 percent -- well below the national goal of having 90 percent of all children fully immunized by age 2.

In response to this challenge, the Kansas Immunization Action Coalition (KIAC) launched a new initiative called “Healthy at 2: It’s up to You.”

"Healthy at 2 focuses on educating providers and working with them to determine how to increase immunization rates," said Nancy Tausz, KIAC chair. "KIAC tries to keep immunizations in front of the public because it is sometimes easy to become complacent about diseases that we haven't seen in years.”

In addition to Wyandotte, KIAC will provide outreach to immunization providers in nine targeted counties including: Cherokee, Crawford, Finney, Labette, Lyon, Saline, Sedgwick and Seward. KIAC will work closely with local health departments, community health clinics, provider groups, Kansas SRS and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

“Our health department stands ready to assist other health care providers in our area in whatever capacity we can to raise immunization coverage rates and improve the health status of our community,” said Rosie Howlett, BSN, ARNP, RNC, Division Head, Maternal and Child Health Unified Government Public Health Department. “We are looking for medical as well as non-medical partners in this immunization effort. Let’s all be in this together!”

Governor Kathleen Sebelius has declared the week of April 13-19 Kansas Infant Immunization Week. The year’s theme is “Love Them. Protect Them. Immunize Them.”

PHOTOS AVAILABLE: Electronic pictures of the news conference are available by contacting Christie Appelhanz at 913-383-2013 or christie.appelhanz@mail.house.gov