*This is an archive page. The links are no longer being updated. 1991.11.13 : South Dakota Immunization Plan Contact: (202) 245-6867 In Rapid City (303) 844-3372 November 13, 1991 RAPID CITY, S.D.--U.S Public Health Service head James O. Mason, M.D., today joined Governor George Mickelson, Barbara Smith, the state's secretary of health, and other honored guests in the unveiling of the South Dakota early childhood immunization plan, using Rapid City as its model area. This is the third of six area plans, and the first statewide plan, being developed to address under-immunization of America's youngest and most vulnerable citizens. The South Dakota plan was developed by the state, working in cooperation with other public and private sector agencies within the Rapid City community. Both Governor Mickelson and Barbara Smith are strong proponents of the plan and have pledged their support for its statewide implementation. Proposed actions will raise immunization coverage levels and, as a result, reduce the number of children who would otherwise suffer from vaccine- preventable diseases. Speaking for HHS Secretary Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., and himself, Mason complimented the South Dakota Department of Health for an "outstanding plan" for immunizing children 2 and younger. It is not only the first statewide plan but it is the first state to make a major contribution by doubling physician reimbursement for immunizations to Medicaid-eligible children. "When implemented," Dr. Mason said, "the plan will ensure that our youngest, most vulnerable 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." Today there are still areas in the United States where less than half of the 2-year-olds are fully protected against vaccine- preventable childhood diseases. Dr. Mason, who is HHS Assistant Secretary for Health as well as head of the PHS, said, "It is the right of our youngest citizens to be protected from unnecessary sickness and death and it is our responsibility, as their caretakers, to ensure that every child under 2 is fully immunized. Also, with our 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." Dr. Mason was accompanied by Surgeon General Antonia C. Novello, M.D., and William L. Roper, M.D., director of the Centers for Disease Control. They represented HHS Secretary Sullivan, who said in a prepared statement: "We as a nation do a great job in 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." Under-immunization of children under 2 years old 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 Rapid City area is South Dakota's contribution to the nationwide effort to provide more innovative and effective means for vaccinating children at the appropriate age. 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 top public health officials to travel to Dallas, Phoenix, Rapid City, Detroit, San Diego and Philadelphia to see what could be done by local health officials in partnership with the federal government 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 South Dakota plan will make immunization more accessible throughout the state. Besides increasing physician reimbursement from $2.50 to $5 per immunization for Medicaid-eligible children, the plan contains commitments to: o make immunization services more readily accessible to welfare (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) applicants in Rapid City; o establish screening and immunization services for pediatric patients prior to discharge from hospitals and emergency rooms statewide; o facilitate the scheduling of immunization clinics at local county food stamp issuance offices to coincide with the food stamp issuance dates; o develop and implement a computerized system which will be capable of tracking the immunizations of Medicaid- eligible children; o ensure that all children of all ages in the custody of the state are age-appropriately immunized; o establish and maintain coordination and cooperation between the Aberdeen Area Indian Health Service and the United Sioux Tribal Chairman's Health Board; o develop and implement an information and education plan to promote age-appropriate immunizations at the community level; and o increase the knowledge about the importance of immunizations to persons/agencies who provide care to preschool children. The South Dakota effort fits into the ongoing national immunization initiative, Dr. Mason 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 South Dakota plan is the third of six area plans to be developed around the country (five other areas have volunteered to develop similar plans) -- Dallas (completed Sept. 20), Phoenix (completed Oct. 28), Detroit, San Diego and Philadelphia. These cities are representative of urban and rural areas around the nation and the immunization problems they 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 specifically address the under- immunization needs of individual communities. o This six-city effort and subsequent early childhood immunization plans around the nation are but one part of a much broader effort driven by 14 recommendations for improving immunization availability made by the National Vaccine Advisory Committee in January *This is an archive page. The links are no longer being updated. 1991. The recommendations focused on improving immunization availability, the management of immunization delivery, measuring children's immunization status and other prevention needs. Although specific to measles, the same recommendations apply to immunization against other childhood diseases. o The ongoing national immunization initiative consists of several key actions to address under-immunization problems. For example: -- the development of new standards for immunization practices to be adopted by all public and private vaccine providers in America; -- the sponsoring 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; -- the formation of an immunization unit in the Healthy Mothers-Healthy Babies Coalition specifically to address health issues for these constituents, including infant immunization; -- the formation of a federal interagency coordinating committee to unite all of the key federal partners with a role in immunization. CDC's Dr. Roper emphasized, "Few activities in public health surpass the effectiveness of immunization...Among the most vital and cost-effective medical interventions available, immunization has become the basic tool of the public health practitioner, a means to save and improve countless lives, and the source of significant savings in health care costs." ###