HHS Unveils New Immunization Public Service Campaign at

National Infant Immunization Week Kickoff

Today Secretary Donna E. Shalala and District of Columbia Mayor Anthony Williams announced a new public awareness campaign urging Hispanic parents to immunize their children. The Spanish-language PSA campaign features print, radio, and television public service announcements designed to reach parents and caregivers with the message that all children should receive a full course of recommended vaccinations by age 2 to protect against 11 vaccine preventable childhood diseases.

President Clinton first officially proclaimed the last week in April "National Infant Immunization Week" (NIIW) in 1994 to focus attention on the importance of childhood immunization. Released to mark NIIW, the 1999 Spanish-language PSAs are part of a nationwide effort to create and distribute educational materials that are culturally relevant and language appropriate to help raise Hispanic immunization rates to the national average. The Spanish-language theme, "Vacunelo A Tiempo...Todo el Tiempo" or "Vaccinate your children on time, every time," conveys the importance of immunizing children, and encourages parents and caregivers to talk with their health care provider to make sure their child is up to date by the age of 2 years. The Spanish-language radio PSA is narrated by Jon Secada, a popular Spanish-speaking musician.

The new outreach effort announced today builds on the Clinton Administration's comprehensive Childhood Immunization Initiative, launched in 1993 in response to disturbing gaps in childhood immunization rates. Since 1993, the campaign has raised childhood immunization levels for the full series of recommended vaccinations to an all-time high of 78 percent, made significant progress toward eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in childhood immunization rates, and reduced rates of vaccine-preventable childhood disease to record lows. In addition, President Clinton announced in July 1997 that the nation had exceeded its childhood vaccination goals for 1996, with 90 percent or more of America's toddlers receiving the most critical doses of vaccines for children by age 2.

"This administration has worked hard to ensure that all kids from all backgrounds are receiving their shots," said Secretary Shalala. "To truly succeed, we must break down barriers that prevent our children from being immunized on time. This new public awareness campaign will help to spread this critical message to the Hispanic community."

Approximately 900,000 children under age 2 still have not received all of their immunizations, and minority children still lag behind white children when overall vaccination rates are compared. While 79 percent of white children have received the full series of vaccinations by age 2, only 73 percent of African-American children and 72 percent of Hispanic children are fully vaccinated against childhood disease. To help close these gaps, President Clinton announced a plan as part of his Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities Initiative to eliminate disparities in childhood immunization by 2010.

"While we can justifiably take pride in the great strides we have made, now is not the time to grow complacent. We must not take our successes for granted and forget the tremendous suffering that these diseases can cause. There are still thousands of children not fully immunized and we must start anew each day as 11,000 babies are born," said Dr. Walter Orenstein, director of the National Immunization Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As part of this effort, in FY 1999, CDC has allocated $10 million for a community-based demonstration program in up to 30 communities, which will focus on eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities. The President has requested $35 million for this program in FY 2000, and the President's FY 2000 budget also includes $70 million for Community Health Centers to enhance services targeted to reducing health disparities.

The public service announcements will be sent to more than 60 Spanish-language television stations and 900 Spanish-language radio stations, and carry toll-free numbers which provide information in Spanish (1-800-232-0233).

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