Vaccines are one of the greatest technological developments of the 20th century and are among the most cost-effective interventions of modern medicine.  Vaccines have eradicated once frequent killers such as smallpox and polio in the United States and can prevent several other common diseases such as hepatitis, influenza, and pneumonia in children and adults.

Over recent years, childhood immunization coverage has surged but as a nation, we still fall short of the Healthy People 2010 goal to increase vaccination coverage levels among children aged 19 to 35 months to 90% for universally recommended vaccines.  In fact, in 2006, the national average for universally recommended vaccines was 77%.  Vaccines are cost-effective, and most child vaccines are cost-saving.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every dollar spent on childhood immunizations saves $18.40 in direct and indirect medical costs.

Low-income children are at risk for being under immunized.  Moreover, a number of Americans do not receive immunizations due to misconceptions about vaccine safety and lack of knowledge about recommended child immunizations.

Infant Immunization Improvement Act

Senator Murkowski and Senator Murray recently introduced the Infant Immunization Improvement Act.  The Infant Immunization Improvement Act authorizes funding for effective interventions recommended by the Task Force on Community Preventive Services and funds demonstration programs to increase immunization rates for Women, Infant and Children (WIC) recipients, which include more than 45% of US infants.  The bill also provides funding to a conduct a public education campaign on the safety and efficacy of infant immunizations.

What Does the Bill Do?

• Authorizes additional funding for a demonstration program for WIC clinics located in areas that have demonstrated low immunization rates for children 0-35 months to have a greater role in childhood immunizations by recommending vaccines to WIC recipients, coordinating care or immunization services, or employing an immunization coordinator.  The bill also requires that any grantee that uses these funds for IIS permit all WIC clinics in that state to access the system.

• The bill will authorize $5,500,000 to be appropriated for each of the 3-fiscal years beginning with the first fiscal year after the date of enactment

•  Authorizes additional funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct public, age appropriate, immunization awareness campaigns and immunization education and outreach activities.

• The bill will authorize $5,000,000 to be appropriated for each of the 3-fiscal years beginning with the first fiscal year after the date of enactment

• Establishes a sense of the Senate concerning the importance of electronic medical records and that the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) should work to improve the integration of immunization information systems with electronic medical records, health information systems, and health information exchanges.