March 28, 2006

Little Rock -- The Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Health’s Immunization Program has received national recognition from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). At the recent National Immunization Conference, Dr. Anne Schuchat, Captain U.S. Public Health Service, National Immunization Program, recognized Arkansas’ achievement in improving immunization coverage by 15.1 percent since 2001. Arkansas’ immunization rates for children 19-35 months of age are now 82.4 percent, which exceeds the 80% goal of the Healthy People 2010 Initiative. 

According to Charles Beets, Immunization Section Chief, “These increases are due to the hard work of local health units colleagues and private providers and their efforts to get these children immunized.”

Dr. Paul Halverson, Division of Health Director, states, “I am so proud of our local health units and private providers for what they have been able to accomplish. Arkansas now ranks third nationally among states showing improvement. What an accomplishment!”

According to the CDC’s economic evaluation, the seven vaccines routinely given as part of the childhood immunization schedule will prevent over 14 million cases of disease and over 33,500 deaths over the lifetime of children born this year. When comparing the cost of the disease they prevent and the cost of administering them, these vaccines save nearly $10 billion per year. These vaccines also prevent the need for patients to spend time seeking care and the need for parents to take time off work to care for sick children. When including these and other prevented costs to society, the annual savings exceed $40 billion (“Economic Evaluation of the 7-Vaccine Routine Childhood Immunization Schedule in the United States, 2001” Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, December 2005).

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