South Carolina is number one in the nation for immunizing children under two, and South Carolina Academy of Family Physicians President Audrey B. Rhodes, MD, of Columbia has a lot to do with that.
Since 1994, Dr. Rhodes has served as project director for the South Carolina HOPE for Kids project, sponsored by the nonprofit international charity organization HOPE Worldwide, Ltd. Working closely with other organizations, agencies, and coalitions, Dr. Rhodes helps plan the state's immunization activities.
She also coordinates the recruitment, training, and activities of the 100 people who volunteer throughout the year, as well as the 600 South Carolinians who participated in HOPE for Kids' immunization project April 20.
Nationwide, more than 25,000 volunteers in about 40 cities gave parents of more than a million children information about immunizations and vaccine-preventable diseases April 20.
In South Carolina, participants canvassed Columbia's inner-city neighborhoods and knocked on doors to inform residents about vaccine-preventable diseases. That day, volunteers educated parents of more than 5,700 children about the importance of immunizations, and more than 70 children were immunized at local health departments.
"We train volunteers to be courteous and respectful to the people they talk with ... to be sensitive when going door-to-door. When you enter somebody's home, you have to do that with respect. But we've always had a good response," says Dr. Rhodes.
In South Carolina, the project achieved a significant goal: through its efforts, more than 90 percent of the state's children under two years old have been fully immunized.
Dr. Rhodes, who is the SCAFP's first African-American president, was spotlighted in the April Ebony magazine. She also serves as medical section chief at the CM Tucker Jr. Center of the South Carolina Department of Mental Health.
Dr. Rhodes
FP Report, July 1996 headlines
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