Talking It Over

Some years ago, I met a woman who ran a dairy farm in Vermont with her husband. She was required by law to immunize her cattle against disease. And each year, she dutifully complied and inoculated her herd.

Immunizing her young children, however, was another story. After buying vaccines for her cows, she said, she couldn't afford vaccines for her children. "My cattle," she told me, "are receiving better health care than my children."

Although it may seem inconceivable to many Americans, our country for years lagged behind poorer, less advanced nations in immunization rates among children. As recently as 1994, we had the third worst rate of immunization in the Western Hemisphere. Even as we led the world in new medical treatments and technologies, too many American infants and toddlers were going without simple vaccines that can prevent serious illnesses such as measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis.

Today — finally — we have some good news about immunizations. The President announced at a White House ceremony this week that a greater percentage of American children are getting inoculated than ever before. Most diseases that can be prevented by vaccines are at historic lows. And our nation is on track to achieve an immunization rate of 90 percent of all 2-year-olds by 2000.

We wouldn't be where we are today without a renewed federal commitment to immunizations — and without the work of countless individuals, organizations and corporations who appreciate that immunizing children is not only a health issue but a matter of sound economics. After all, every dollar spent on the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine saves $21 in later health-care costs, and even more for children who are protected against diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus.

The first serious effort to improve immunization rates began 20 years ago when President Carter set a national immunization goal of vaccinating 90 percent of the nation's children against diseases like measles, whooping cough and polio by the time they entered school.

He was encouraged by Sen.

Dale Bumpers of Arkansas, who, along with his wife, Betty, made immunizations a personal crusade. When Bumpers was governor of the state, Betty visited every county and showed up at nearly every school to educate parents about the importance of immunizations. Not surprisingly, Arkansas became the first state to meet the immunization goal for school-age children set by President Carter.

When he moved to Washington, Bumpers continued his tireless advocacy for child immunizations, holding hearings and fighting for funding in Congress. Betty also kept the pressure on, joining forces with former First Lady Rosalynn Carter after a measles epidemic in 1989 to create a non-profit immunization education program called Every Child by Two. Together, they have traversed the country, meeting with community leaders, health providers and elected officials to establish and expand immunization programs around the country.

Even so, progress was not guaranteed, despite historically strong bipartisan support and cooperation among state and federal officials. In the late 1980s, the federal government had stopped measuring immunization rates of 2-year-olds, the age by which children should receive 80 percent of their vaccines. Whenever a new, lifesaving vaccine was added to the schedule, there was a fierce battle to obtain the funding needed to buy and distribute it.

To renew the federal commitment to child immunizations, the President set new goals for 1996 and for 2000. As part of his effort to reform health care, he put in place the Child Immunization Initiative, which helped more families afford, gain access to and understand the importance of early childhood immunization. Having exceeded our goals for 1996, we must now redouble our efforts to achieve the same success in the two years ahead. That's why the President announced steps this week to ensure that millions of children in federally funded child care receive the immunizations they need. He also called on state and federal officials to explore how immunization registries can help doctors and parents maintain up-to-date information on the immunization status of their patients and children.

And, as part of his larger effort to promote better health care of America's children, he has urged Congress to earmark new tobacco tax revenues to fund health coverage for millions of uninsured children.

We know what our children need. If we keep working together, we can make sure their needs are met.

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