I want a "non-vegan national registry" so as to avoid sick zones while driving

[www.cbc.ca]

"It's been more than fifteen years since public health officials declared that home-grown measles had been eliminated from Canada. But this year, measles is on the comeback trail, with outbreaks in many parts of the country. An editorial published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal is calling for a national vaccine and other actions to stop the threat. I agree wholeheartedly with the call.

A national vaccination registry would identify which Canadians have been fully vaccinated, those who have received less than a full dose of shots, and those who have not been vaccinated at all. Having a vaccine registry in place in the event of an outbreak of measles, whooping cough, and diseases like these would enable public health officials to identify the children and adults who need vaccinations. Getting them the shots they need would reduce the risk of anyone on the list getting sick, and would also reduce the threat of an outbreak in the community in which they live or travel to an from.

As to why action is needed now, there are some very worrisome trends in this country that need to be reversed. The outbreaks of measles have come as the number of Canadians getting vaccinated against measles has been heading downward. Just seventy-nine percent of Canadian children receive their second dose of measles vaccine by their seventh birthday - and coverage rates for teens age seventeen are even lower. Keep in mind that the World Health Organization says that to effectively eliminate measles, we need ninety-five percent of Canadians to be vaccinated. As is, we're nowhere near that. In fact, as a nation, when it comes to childhood vaccination rates, out of the twenty-nine richest nations on Earth, Canada recently placed twenty-eighth

This is nothing to be proud of. Perhaps we have more than our share of vaccine sceptics - people who doubt the value and safety of routine immunizations. Perhaps Canada trumpeted the eradication of diseases like measles and polio a little too well - leading some of us to believe that diseases prevented by vaccines no longer pose any threat. We know that the Internet is a major source of misinformation about vaccine safety. But you'd be hard put to argue that Canadians are more prone to sceptical messages because they have greater access to the Internet. Maybe it's the fact that in Canada, health care is a provincial responsibility with each province having a slightly different approach to providing vaccines and dealing with sceptics. Where health care is a national responsibility, you can set policy and create a consistent message for the entire nation.

The editorial calls for the creation of an overseeing body to work with public health officials and the National Advisory Committee on Immunization - the body that sets evidence-based vaccine recommendations for Canada - on how to address the hesitancy of some Canadians to get vaccinated. The overseeing body would also improve surveillance of measles and other communicable diseases, and help decide where to do special vaccine education campaigns.
The other thing that the editorial recommends is that Canada harmonize vaccination schedules across provincial boundaries so that every Canadian - regardless of where they live - receives the right vaccines at the right time based on the best available evidence

As it stands right now, Canadian provinces have a mishmash of conflicting vaccination rules. Seven provinces do not require kids to be vaccinated before being permitted to attend school. Just three provinces - Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick - have mandatory vaccine. However, the three provinces allow exemptions for medical, religious and ideological reasons. But the differing criteria for granting exemptions adds to the inconsistency of rules. this terrific post.

This is no time for complacency. Unless we boost immunization rates, we can expect to see more and more outbreaks of measles like the ones that have occurred in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario, not to mention much larger outbreaks in the US and the European Union. And let's not forget that measles can be fatal. During a measles outbreak the lasted from 2008 until 2011, France had ten deaths that were attributed to the disease. And let's not forget that in addition to measles, there are other preventable diseases for which Canadians are increasingly under-vaccinated and even unvaccinated."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2014 03:52PM by Panchito.