Philadelphia, Pa., December 11, 2005
– The San Diego Immunization Initiative (1-3) today was awarded the American Public Health Association/Glaxo SmithKline Partnership for Healthy Children Award at the APHA 133 rd Annual Meeting & Exposition.
The program is a coalition of approximately 150 partner organizations collaborating to reduce vaccine preventable diseases by raising immunization rates among San Diego’s children, adolescents and adults. Formed in 1991 to focus on infants and toddlers, the coalition has expanded its mission to include improving immunization coverage across the lifespan.
With the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency Immunization Branch as the lead agency, the coalition has successfully brought together a variety of public and private organizations, agencies and programs to work together. The member organizations coordinate with strategic planning, community assessment and research. Through their efforts, new initiatives are developed to improve access, availability and quality of immunization services throughout the community.
Among the community organizations that have benefited from the immunization coalition is the Alpha Kappa Alpha Head Start program, which provides free preschool to low-income San Diego families. Agency Director Geneva Roberts said the San Diego Immunization Initiative has given her organization information, resources, rewards and stickers promoting and improving immunization coverage for the preschool population, especially Hispanic families.
Home Start, another local child and family agency that provides counseling, mentoring and support services to San Diego youth and families, has benefited from the immunization initiative’s staff trainings on how to check immunization records as well as information on preventable diseases, said CEO John DeStefano.
Other local activists have praised the San Diego Immunization Initiative for working with existing coalitions to improve immunization coverage. The Community Health Improvement Partners Immunize San Diego is an ongoing countywide adult immunization education and flu shot campaign that partnered with the San Diego coalition during the 2003-2004 flu season to distribute 15,000 “No Flu” information cards and host a bilingual hotline that received more than 7,300 calls from October to December 2003.
Other results of the San Diego Immunization Initiatives collaborations include improved vaccination rates for 2-year-olds from 60 percent in 1991 to 86 percent in 2004 and an overall increase in the number of immunization clinics in the county.