National Infant Immunization Week kicks off April 21

National Infant Immunization Week is set for April 21 to 28. This annual observance is designed to promote the benefits of immunizations and to improve the health of children aged 2 years and younger.

For the past 18 years, the CDC has collaborated with local and state health departments, national immunization partners, health care professionals and community leaders to highlight the benefits of vaccination through National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW) activities, according to the CDC.

This year’s NIIW will be celebrated as part of the first World Immunization Week (WIW), an initiative of WHO. During WIW, all six WHO regions will simultaneously promote immunization, advance equity in the use of vaccines and universal access to vaccination services, and enable cooperation on cross-border immunization activities in April.

As part of WIW, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is sponsoring Vaccination Week in the Americas, which will be held in conjunction with communities in both the United States and the Western Hemisphere. The events will include awareness and education events to be held in conjunction with state and local health departments, PAHO and the US-Mexico Border Health Commission for sites along the US-Mexico border.

Routine childhood immunization in one birth cohort prevents about 20 million cases of disease and about 42,000 deaths, besides saving about $13.6 billion in direct costs, according to the CDC. However, the 2010 outbreak of pertussis that killed 10 infants in California and the more than 200 people in the United States who were confirmed to have measles in 2011 are reminders that diligent efforts are needed to maintain immunization programs and to strengthen them worldwide.

In conjunction with NIIW, the CDC Childhood Immunization Champion Awards were released this week. The awards are given jointly by the CDC and the CDC Foundation to honor individuals who are doing an exemplary job or going above and beyond to promote or foster childhood immunizations in their communities, according to the CDC.

In this inaugural year, the CDC has named 39 individuals as CDC Childhood Immunization Champions, and Infectious Diseases in Children Chief Medical Editor Richard F. Jacobs, MD, is among the honorees.

As acting chair of the Arkansas Immunization Task Force, Jacobs worked with former First Lady Hillary Clinton to help increase immunization rates when she was the First Lady of Arkansas. They collaborated on securing Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine for all Arkansas children a year before receiving proposed funding from the federal government.

In 2000, Jacobs launched the Vaccine Medical Advisory Committee (VMAC), a platform for improved communication between all immunization stakeholders, including the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH), Medicaid, research and advocacy and other groups. While VMAC’s chairperson, he helped to facilitate school-based influenza vaccination clinics; educate and communicate with stakeholders; train pediatricians and family physicians on ways to overcome immunization challenges; and worked with the state health department to publish key immunization findings. Jacobs also played an instrumental role in the creation of the Arkansas State Immunization Registry, helping broker the deal between the ADH and Medicaid, according to the CDC.

Additional information on NIIW is available at www.cdc.gov/vaccines/events/niiw/index.html.

A complete list of Champion Award winners can be found at www.cdc.gov/vaccines/events/niiw/champions/profiles.html.