Although the United States has done "a terrific job" of protecting American children from vaccine-preventable illness, the nation's adults have not fared as well, according to the Partnership for Prevention. It's time to rectify that shortfall, say health advocates, the Academy among them.
The AAFP recently signed onto "Strengthening Adult Immunization: A Call to Action," (PDF file: 24 pages / 620 KB. More about PDFs.) an appeal from immunization experts and other stakeholders convened Feb. 1 by the partnership. The document asks federal legislators and policy-makers to narrow the gap between national adult immunization goals and actual vaccination rates.
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AAFP Joins National Call to Action on Adult Immunizations
The partnership is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to improving health by preventing disease and injury. Herbert Young, M.D., director of the AAFP Scientific Activities Division, represented the Academy on the expert panel that developed the call-to-action document.
"More than 40,000 American adults -- including working-age men and women, health care workers, seniors and others -- die each year from diseases that can be cheaply and effectively prevented by immunization," said John Clymer, president of Partnership for Prevention, in a letter sent this month to lawmakers introducing the initiative.
"Although we've done a terrific job of protecting our children from vaccine-preventable diseases, millions of American adults are not protected," Clymer noted. The ramifications are far-reaching and include limiting the number of manufacturers willing to produce adult vaccines for the U.S. market -- leaving the nation vulnerable to vaccine shortages, he added.
The partnership proposes six action steps:
"Although we've done a terrific job of protecting our children from vaccine-preventable diseases, millions of American adults are not protected," Clymer noted. The ramifications are far-reaching and include limiting the number of manufacturers willing to produce adult vaccines for the U.S. market -- leaving the nation vulnerable to vaccine shortages, he added.
The partnership proposes six action steps:
- Establish a multi-year pilot in at least four states to purchase and distribute flu vaccine to adults ages 19 to 64 who meet high-risk criteria developed by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
- Require the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program to mandate that participating health insurers provide first-dollar coverage of flu and pneumococcal vaccines for high-risk adults.
- Earmark additional funds for Section 317 of the Public Health Service Act to support adult immunization activities.
- Launch a national campaign to educate adult Americans about the value of these immunizations.
- Direct CMS to expand its quality initiatives to include adult immunization, and commit funding for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to assess CMS' efforts -- along with those of private health organizations -- to identify best practices and to reward quality.
- Require CMS to reach agreement with the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations on making immunization of health care workers one of the criteria JCAHO considers when accrediting hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies and other such facilities.
"As family physicians, we care about immunization throughout all of the patient's lifespan," Young said. "It's been obvious to the Academy for some time that there hasn't been enough emphasis placed on adult immunizations -- especially on the public health resources that need to be invested in this area of care -- so this attention to adult immunizations helps complete that picture."
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