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VICTORIA – A provincewide immunization information campaign launched today connects parents and caregivers with important vaccine facts, lets them make important health decisions for their children and themselves, and addresses myths and rumours about immunization.
“The ImmunizeBC information campaign supports British Columbia’s immunization program and its beneficiaries, especially our youngest citizens,” said Health Minister George Abbott. “Vaccinating against potentially fatal diseases can prevent these from happening, thereby protecting health and saving lives.”
The campaign is the result of a year-long series of consultations with BC’s immunization providers who had asked for assistance in educating and informing parents about the facts regarding immunization.
“What the providers told us is that many parents today live in a state of information overload,” said Dr. Monika Naus, director of immunization at the BC Centre for Disease Control, an agency of the Provincial Health Services Authority. “Anti-immunization messages and misperceptions are now so easily accessible through the Internet that it can be quite confusing for parents to know what to think. We want to ensure that British Columbians have access to reliable information about immunization, and this campaign aims to do just that.”
ImmunizeBC was developed by the BCCDC in consultation with the province’s regional health authorities and First Nations and Inuit Health. The campaign includes radio, television and print advertisements, as well as the launch of a new brochure and website urging parents to find out more about immunization.
“It’s easy to forget that vaccines save lives because diseases that once killed or disabled many people, and especially children, are now so rare in Canada,” continued Naus. “Thanks to immunization programs, most parents today don’t have to worry about losing their children to preventable illness. However, if we stop immunizing, these diseases will return. The risk of infection for an unvaccinated person is just an airplane ride away.”
Globally, the World Health Organization says that vaccine-preventable diseases are responsible for about 25 per cent of the 10 million deaths occurring annually among children under five years of age. In Canada, reported cases of vaccine preventable diseases have declined by over 97 per cent because of immunization.
“Information is power, and the right information can literally save lives,” said Dr. Perry Kendall, B.C.’s provincial health officer. “Immunization is an amazing public health tool, one of science’s greatest accomplishments. ImmunizeBC is really more than a campaign – it’s part and parcel of the public good in our province.”
There are currently 14 government-funded vaccine programs in British Columbia, providing protection from diseases such as seasonal influenza, diphtheria, tetanus, polio, pneumococcal and meningococcal disease, measles, mumps and rubella. These vaccines are offered to a variety of age groups in settings that include public health units, child health clinics, physicians’ offices, institutions and schools.
In 2007/08, approximately $33
million was allocated within the BCCDC to purchase vaccines in addition to
regional health authorities spending and staffing to deliver immunization
services. Provincial funding for vaccines has more than doubled in the past
five years from $15 million in 2002/03.
Information on all 14 B.C. vaccine programs, as well as multimedia material addressing concerns, myths and misperceptions about immunization, are available on the new ImmunizeBC website www.immunizebc.ca.
A high-quality audio clip of Minister Abbott talking about immunization is available to media at www.mediaroom.gov.bc.ca/DisplayEventDetails.aspx?eventId=399.
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contact: |
Communications Director Ministry of Health 250 952-1887 (media line) 250 920-8500 (cell) |
Immunization Promotion Specialist BC Centre for Disease Control 604 660-6096 |
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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca. |
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