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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
29 July 2004
STATE PURSUING AGGRESSIVE EFFORT TO IMPROVE IMMUNIZATION RATE
DENVER – Colorado’s immunization rate for fully
immunized children between the ages of 19 and 35 months increased from
62.7 percent in 2002 to 67.5 percent in 2003, indicating some progress is
being made even though Colorado still ranks an “unacceptable” 50th among
states for its immunization rate, Douglas H. Benevento, the executive
director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said
Thursday.
The rankings of states, based on the number of children who have received
the 14 doses of vaccine recommended against preventable childhood diseases
by the time they reach the age of two, were announced Thursday by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Although children
are to have received all of the vaccines by the age of two, the state
rankings are based on the number of children who are fully immunized
between the ages of 19 and 35 months.
Benevento said, “Since last year’s ranking, Colorado has worked
aggressively to obtain and provide additional financial resources for
immunization efforts across Colorado and to help to enhance and expand
these programs in other ways. The Department of Public Health and
Environment has been working with other state departments; the federal
government; and with local health agencies to increase immunization rates
as quickly as possible. It is vital that Colorado improve its rate of
immunizations so that as many of the state’s children as possible are
protected from the childhood diseases that can be life threatening.”
The state health director emphasized, “Just during 2004, Colorado’s
efforts in this important arena have included the earmarking of an
additional $1.4 million to upgrade immunization programs throughout
Colorado. Efforts have been led by this department working in cooperation
with Colorado Governor Bill Owens and the Colorado Legislature.”
According to Benevento, efforts to increase immunization rates at local
health agencies include:
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In January 2004, the state health director ordered that $388,355 in
federal grants monies be redirected to provide immunization program
enhancements for 15 local health departments across Colorado. The uses of
these funds, which the local health agencies received in addition to other
state and federal funds earmarked for immunization purposes, include:
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Broomfield Health and Human Services Department, based in Broomfield,
$3,921: Through this effort, a total of 624 children received
immunizations, including flu shots. The department also formed a task
force on immunization issues. Immunizations also are being offered at
off-site clinics and during extended hours at existing clinics in July and
August 2004.
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El Paso County Department of Health and Environment, based in Colorado
Springs, $52,557: Through this effort, additional physicians were
recruited to provide immunizations to low-income children; the
distribution of immunization information was expanded to reach additional
parents of newborns and children in day-care centers; and links were
established with local school districts to make immunization information
more readily available, including through displays on school buses.
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Las Animas-Huerfano Counties District Health Department, based in
Trinidad and Walsenburg, $2,456: These funds were used to immunize an
additional 123 children in Huerfano County and an additional 353 children
in Las Animas County.
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Otero County Health Department, based in La Junta, $2,016: Through this
effort, immunization clinics were expanded and provided at new off-site
locations and during expanded hours in an effort to reach the children of
working families.
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San Juan Basin Health Department, based in Durango and serving La Plata
and San Juan Counties, $5,967: These funds were used to enhance phone
follow-up and to send additional reminder cards to parents. As a result,
96 percent of children up to the age of 24 months, served by the
department, now are fully immunized.
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Governor Owens earmarked $500,000 in one-time funds to be used to help
meet the state’s immunization needs. The $500,000 is part of $111.3
million in federal funds the state received through the Jobs and Growth
Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003.
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Because these were one-time funds, the Department of Public Health and
Environment’s Immunization Program provided the money to local health
departments and county public health nursing services to help these
agencies throughout Colorado improve the available local infrastructure to
administer and track immunizations. The improvements at the local level
have included such things as needed upgrades to computer systems and
immunization clinic equipment.
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Led by Governor Owens and Benevento, the Department of Public Health and
Environment successfully urged the Colorado Legislature’s Joint Budget
Committee to restore $500,000 in annual state funding to the Immunization
Program.
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The Immunization Program now is developing a request for application
process through which $390,000 of the $500,000 will be allocated to local
health departments, county public health nursing services and community
organizations throughout Colorado. The money will be granted to those
local health agencies that substantiate the greatest need for improvements
in their immunization efforts and the most effective ways of improving
their immunization rates.
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With up to $25,000 of the state funds allocated to the Immunization
Program, a professional informational campaign will be developed to
provide information to Colorado parents on the required immunizations; the
schedule of when those immunizations are to be provided; and particularly
on the importance of every child being fully immunized by the age of two
to protect them from potentially fatal childhood diseases. The materials,
to be centered around an easily identifiable and easily remembered tag
line, will be developed in both English and Spanish and will be based on
information gathered from parents, particularly those identified as being
in the pockets of need.
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The remainder of the $500,000 will be used by the Immunization Program
to hire a staff member to complete a data analysis to identify the pockets
of need in the state where there is the greatest opportunity for
improvements in immunization rates. This is made more difficult by the
fact that in some sections of the state, particularly in rural areas,
there is no data available to determine where the pockets of need exist.
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The department’s Immunization Technical Assistance Team, led by the
Immunization Program, is developing a best practice assessment tool for
providers and clinics. This tool will help to determine where providers
and clinics have already initiated best practices as well as to identify
opportunities to implement proven strategies to improve their immunization
coverage rates.
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An already identified need is to increase the number of Colorado
children, between the ages of 12-15 months, who have received the fourth
immunization for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis or whooping cough (DTaP).
Because of a national shortage of the vaccine in 2002, CDC recommended
that the fourth and any additional DTaP immunizations be suspended. Since
February 2003, parents of Colorado children in this category have been
notified by their physicians that their children now should receive the
fourth DTaP immunization. However, in the ranking for last half of 2002
and the first half of 2003, Colorado’s immunization rate for children 19
months old who have received their fourth DTaP immunization stood at 51.2
percent as compared to the national rate of 67 percent. The notifications
have been issued even though the Colorado Board of Health has suspended
the fourth DTaP requirement for school children, including children in day
care who are covered by this ranking, from April 2001 through September
2004 because of the vaccine shortage.
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