Immunization Alliance

The Immunization Alliance is an American vaccine advocacy consortium, assembled under auspices of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in May 2008. The Immunization Alliance has called for a governmental information campaign, ongoing research into vaccine safety and efficacy, balanced media coverage, and restoration of confidence among parents due to the vaccine controversy and the related controversies in autism.

Emergence

Citing the largest measles outbreak in the US since 1966 (130 cases in fifteen states), Paul Offit, a member of the Alliance, asserted that this re-emergence of a common childhood disease was a warning about the dangers of "what can happen when parents are misinformed about vaccine safety." [ [http://www.idinchildren.com/200809/guested.asp] ] "We do not want to become a nation of people who are vulnerable to diseases that are deadly or that can have serious complications, especially if those diseases can be prevented," said Renee Jenkins, president of the AAP. [ [http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/sept08Immunizationalliance.htm] ]

The Immunization Alliance was described in the July, 2008, issue of "Pediatrics" (published by the AAP), announcing the organization's debut and detailing its plans for improving vaccine schedule adherence and combating declining immunization rates.

Member organizations

Over twenty organizations, representing a broad swath of the American medical community, have banded together with the AAP to form the Immunization Alliance, including:

* Academy of Family Physicians
* American Academy of Pediatrics
* American Academy of Physician Assistants
* American College of Preventive Medicine
* American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
* American College of Osteopathic Pediatricians
* American Medical Association
* American Public Health Association
* America's Health Insurance Plans
* Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
* California Immunization Coalition
* Every Child By Two
* Immunization Action Coalition
* Infectious Diseases Society of America
* March of Dimes
* National Foundation for Infectious Diseases
* National Vaccine Program Office
* Parents of Kids with Infectious Diseases
* Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society
* Sabin Vaccine Institute
* UnitedHealth Group
* Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
* Voices for Vaccines

References

External links

* [http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/sept08Immunizationalliance.htm AAP.org] - "New Immunization Alliance Issues National Call to Action', American Academy of Pediatrics (Sept. 18, 2008)