*This is an archive page. The links are no longer being updated. 1991.10.28 : Maricopa County Childhood Immunization Plan Contact: HHS Press Office (202) 245-6343 October 28, 1991 PHOENIX, Ariz. -- HHS Secretary Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., today met with local participants to unveil the Maricopa County early childhood immunization plan -- the second of six plans developed to address under-immunization of America's youngest and most vulnerable citizens and to ensure 90 percent of children under 2 are fully immunized by the year 2000. Secretary Sullivan said, "With health care costs stretched to the limit, we can't afford NOT to immunize our youngest children. For every $1 spent on measles, mumps and rubella immunization, for example, $14 in costs to society are saved." Secretary Sullivan was accompanied by HHS Assistant Secretary for Health James O. Mason, M.D., who heads the Public Health Service; Surgeon General Antonia C. Novello, M.D.; Everett R. Rhoades, M.D., director of the Indian Health Service; and William L. Roper, M.D., director of the Centers for Disease Control. Under-immunization of our nation's 2-year-olds gained widespread attention recently with the largest reported measles outbreak in the nation in 20 years -- with more than 27,600 cases and 89 deaths reported in 1990. The immunization plan for the Phoenix area is Maricopa County's contribution to the nationwide effort to provide more innovative and effective means for vaccinating children who are not now being reached. President Bush proclaimed childhood immunization a priority for his administration in a Rose Garden ceremony for immunization experts on June 13. At that time, he called on Secretary Sullivan and public health officials to travel to Dallas, Phoenix, Rapid City (South Dakota), Detroit, San Diego and Philadelphia to see what could be done by local health officials to get "kids (vaccinated) at an earlier age...To solve the problem of late immunization, we've got to assault it from all angles and levels with public health efforts, with creative partnerships between the nonprofit and the private sectors, with conscientious action on the part of parents, teachers and citizens." The Maricopa County plan attempts to make immunization more accessible by: o establishing at least five additional mobile immunization clinics in areas of the county with the highest measles morbidity or areas which lack access to immunization services; o coordinating immunization delivery with Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) programs in the area; o providing immunization outreach services to the younger siblings (and household contacts) of Head Start enrollees; and o utilizing volunteer groups, such as the Kiwanis International. The plan includes several other key partners within the Phoenix area, such as: o The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System which is the Medicaid provider for the state; and o The Ambulatory Care Clinics which, in the past, have had an "appointment only" system that did not accommodate walk-in immunization services. Dr. Sullivan complimented the Maricopa County health department on an "outstanding plan" for immunizing children age 2 and younger. "When implemented," Secretary Sullivan said, "the plan will ensure that our most vulnerable, younger children are protected against eight preventable diseases which can cripple, impair and kill--diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis or whooping cough, polio, measles, mumps, rubella and bacterial meningitis." The Maricopa County effort fits into the ongoing national immunization initiative, Dr. Sullivan said. o The federal immunization budget has more than doubled in the past three years, growing from $98.2 million in FY '88 to $217.5 million in FY '91. o The Maricopa County immunization plan is the second of six local area plans being developed around the country--Dallas has completed its plan and four other areas have volunteered to develop similar plans--Rapid City (South Dakota), Detroit, San Diego and Philadelphia. These cities are representative of areas around the nation and the immunization problems they all face. These plans, when completed, will be used to guide over 60 other immunization project areas around the country as they develop their community-specific plans over the next 24 months. The aim is to have local plans in place, nationwide, to address the under- immunization needs of individual communities. o The ongoing national immunization initiative consists of several key actions to address under-immunization problems. For example: -- development of new standards for immunization practices to be adopted by all public and private vaccine providers in America; -- sponsorship of 18 new intervention and assessment demonstration projects in 14 different cities and states to test the effectiveness of new approaches to raising immunization levels; -- formation of an immunization unit in the Healthy Mothers-Healthy Babies Coalition specifically to address health issues for these constituents, including infant immunization; -- formation of a federal interagency coordinating committee to unite all key federal partners with a role in immunization. Getting children immunized in order for them to go to school is not enough, Dr. Mason said: "We as a nation do a great job of getting our kids immunized by the time they go to school -- partly because many school systems require it. But the outbreak of measles shows our kids are vulnerable to fast-moving, potentially crippling epidemics because we are not reaching our children at the appropriate times -- starting at 2 months and at specific times during the first 2 years of life." At the local press conference, Dr. Sullivan reiterated HHS' commitment to the immunization goal. He said the Centers for Disease Control, a Public Health Service agency within HHS, is committing resources, both people and dollars, to several immunization projects -- (1) pilot projects linking immunization with WIC services, (2) school-based retrospective surveys to assess community-wide immunization levels, (3) pilot tests of new computer software for the purpose of clinic-based immunization assessment, and (4) an evaluation of the perinatal Hepatitis B screening and vaccination program. CDC technical experts in data systems management, program administration, evaluation and information-education outreach also provided assistance to Maricopa County in developing its plan. This same assistance will be available during implementation of the plan. The Maricopa County plan was developed by the county health department in cooperation with other public and private sector agencies within the community. Once implemented, these activities will raise immunization coverage levels and, as a result, reduce the number of children who would otherwise suffer from vaccine-preventable disease. ###