The Ohio Academy of Family Physicians has joined forces with the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a number of medical organizations in affirming the value, safety, and effectiveness of vaccines in preventing serious illness and saving lives. In letters to all 132 state legislators and Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Director Amy Acton, MD, letter co-signers point out that immunization has been called one of the ten greatest public health achievements of the 20th century in improving the health and life expectancy of people living in the U.S.
The letter states: “In order to advance the many successes that have been achieved through immunization, we believe that public policy decisions about vaccination should be based on criteria that will:
- Reduce barriers to giving safe and effective vaccines – Barriers to vaccination often lead to lower community vaccination rates. Such barriers can arise as a result of lack of knowledge about vaccines, access to immunization services, and missed opportunities for giving all vaccinations that are due at the same time. We need communities to achieve herd immunity to protect all people from infectious disease and prevent outbreaks of diseases.
- Encourage adherence to evidence-based vaccine recommendations – Recommendations for the use of vaccines in the U.S. are determined by expert national committees, including the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases. Their recommendations are based on the age at which the body’s immune system is capable of making an appropriate response to the vaccine, protecting children, adolescents, and adults before they are most at risk for these serious diseases, and the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. These science-based decisions have become the standard of care for physicians and other healthcare professionals throughout the country. Additionally, ODH follows these recommendations as the basis for the state’s school and childcare immunization laws.
- Support providing accurate, science-based immunization information – In today’s world, people can get immunization information from many sources other than their healthcare professional, such as over the Internet, in newspapers and magazines, as well as from friends and other social contacts. Although this plethora of information can help the public make more informed health decisions for their families, it can also be a source of misinformation. It is imperative that any information on vaccines and immunization communicated by our state’s leadership in all branches of state government (e.g., executive, legislative, and agency) be credible and consistent with that of the national scientific community.
- Eliminating all non-medical exemptions – Legislation should support medically indicated exemptions but nonmedical exemptions are inappropriate for individual, public health, and ethical reasons. To protect those who cannot be vaccinated, community or “herd” immunity requires at least 90% of the population to be immunized (95% for highly contagious diseases such as measles and pertussis).
- Standardized process and reporting – There should be a standard form for all school districts to use which requires that a physician or other licensed healthcare provider sign the form for all required immunizations for Kindergarten, school entry, and grades 7 and 12. This form should be developed and provided by ODH. Conversations with a healthcare professional are essential to ensure that parents have all the appropriate medical and scientific information prior to making informed and educated health care decisions such as immunizing their child. Data should be streamlined and publicly reported so public health officials, parents of immunocompromised children, and other stakeholders will know the opt-out rate at each school building. Families with an immunocompromised child will then have the information they need to make an informed decision about the school environment for their medically fragile child.”
The letter concludes, “By following these criteria, we aim to assure that no child or adult in Ohio suffer needlessly from a disease that is preventable through immunization.”