Immunization Coalitions Network News

Network News – July 11, 2013

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Please help IAC spread the word about its new campaign to Give birth to the end of Hep B

 
The following is a letter from Dr. Deborah Wexler, executive director of the Immunization Action Coalition. 
 
Dear Immunization Coalition Colleagues: 
 
I would like to make sure you know about the Immunization Action Coalition’s new initiative to Give birth to the end of Hep B. The initiative urges hospitals and birthing centers to meet the national standard of care to provide a birth dose of HepB vaccine to all newborns.  
 
We will be launching our new birth dose guide, “Hepatitis B: What Hospitals Need to Do to Protect Newborns,” on July 16, which will include a free webinar. We are asking for support in spreading the word about this project to your colleagues. 
 
Nearly one in three newborns leaves the hospital unprotected from life-threatening hepatitis B infection. As a result, about 800 U.S. newborns are chronically infected each year through perinatal transmission. A universal birth dose will protect newborns from this pervasive and invisible threat.  
 
Endorsed by the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the birth dose guide is a comprehensive resource to help birthing institutions establish, implement, and optimize their birth dose policies. 
 
We also are initiating our Hepatitis B Birth Dose Honor Roll which recognizes hospitals and birthing centers that have attained high coverage rates for administering hepatitis B vaccine at birth. 
 
The July 16th launch will take place at an award ceremony in Albany, New York, during which Albany Medical Center will be honored as the first enrollee on the Birth Dose Honor Roll for its achievement in attaining a 99% birth dose coverage rate. Following the ceremony, IAC, CDC, the New York State Department of Health, and Albany Medical Center will present a free one-hour webinar for healthcare professionals beginning at 12 noon ET. The webinar is open to everyone and will cover strategies and tools for implementing the hepatitis B birth dose. 
 
We hope you will support this important endeavor by announcing the birth dose initiative and guide book launch, and perhaps by distributing this invitation to your coalition’s members, your colleagues, and other immunization partners. 
 
At the bottom of this message is a sample announcement you are welcome to cut and paste, or modify as you wish, to send to others. 
 
As always, all of us at IAC deeply appreciate your support in helping us communicate vital immunization information! 
___________________________________ 
 
(Sample Announcement) 
 
The Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) has launched an initiative to Give birth to the end of Hep B with its new guide, "Hepatitis B: What Hospitals Need to Do to Protect Newborns." Endorsed by the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this comprehensive resource is a one-stop shop for assisting birthing institutions in establishing, implementing, and optimizing their birth dose policies. 
 
During an event on July 16th in Albany, New York, IAC will present the guidebook and initiate its Hepatitis B Birth Dose Honor Roll. 
 
The Birth Dose Honor Roll recognizes hospitals and birthing centers that have attained high coverage rates for administering hepatitis B vaccine at birth. IAC’s inaugural Birth Dose Honoree is Albany Medical Center, which, with support from the New York State Department of Health Immunization Bureau, achieved a birth dose coverage rate of 99%. 
 
IAC, CDC, the New York State Department of Health, and Albany Medical Center will conduct a free one-hour webinar, beginning at 12 noon ET, presenting strategies and tools for implementing the hepatitis B birth dose. 
 
Registration for the webinar is now open at https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/751803942 
 
Please register early. 
 
Visit IAC’s birth dose web section at http://www.immunize.org/protect-newborns for the latest information and for downloading the birth dose guide after July 15, 2013. 
 
Important Note 
The webinar will use the services of GoToMeeting and will require a safe and quick installation of some software on your computer. If you have not previously used GoToMeeting, it is a good idea to register ahead of time in order to resolve any additional steps needed to get fully set up for the webinar. 
 
Also, a security warning may appear when you go to the registration website. If it does, simply click the "continue to this website” option and proceed. If you are using the web browser Firefox, you may need to click several times to "accept" the "exception." 
 
Deborah L. Wexler, MD 
Executive Director 
Immunization Action Coalition 
deborah@immunize.org 
 
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Next IZCoalitions Network conference call on August 7

 
Please save the date! The Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) invites you to participate in a 1-hour conference call for immunization coalition leaders, members, and anyone interested in the work of immunization coalitions on Wednesday, August 7, at 2:00 p.m. ET (1:00 p.m. CT). All are welcome. Agenda items will include: 

  1. Update on influenza vaccination recommendations and products for the 2013-14 season – L.J Tan, MS, PhD, chief strategy officer, IAC
  2. Presentation by Lisa Posard, director of Invisible Threat, a new documentary on the anti-vaccine movement
  3. Announcements from partners

We will circulate the final agenda and call-in information the week before the conference call. Hope you all can make it! 
 
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Toolkit for August 2013 National Immunization Awareness Month 

 
The National Public Health Information Coalition (NPHIC) is coordinating activities for this year's National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM), which will take place throughout the month of August. NIAM highlights the need for improving national immunization coverage levels and encourages people of all ages to protect their own health and the health of their loved ones by getting immunized against infectious diseases. 
 
The online August 2013 NIAM Toolkit is a key piece of the communication campaign. It contains information about creating and sending newsletter/listserv announcements, tweets, and e-cards and also offers a Web badge for posting. It outlines ways your organization can promote immunization in your community and offers links to downloadable resources an organization or individual can use to further immunization education. 
 
Related Link 

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Many statewide immunization conferences scheduled

 
As a service to readers, here is a listing of some of the statewide immunization conferences scheduled during the next few months. 

IAC lists conferences and other educational opportunities on its website's Calendar of Events. Visit this page for more information about not only statewide conferences, but also regional and county meetings and immunization-related webinars and conference calls. If you have an event that you wish to be considered for inclusion, please send IAC an email. 
 
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IAC develops new easy-to-read handouts about vaccine-preventable diseases

 
IAC has recently released a new suite of easy-to-read educational handouts about vaccine-preventable diseases for patients and parents. This project features 8 handouts related to teens and adult vaccination and 12 handouts about childhood diseases/vaccines. These handouts were specifically developed to be short and non-medical, and to emphasize the dangers of these vaccine-preventable diseases and the importance of vaccination. 
 
All these handouts can be accessed from IAC's new Vaccine Summaries web page. Just scroll down the page to access all 20. 
 
 
Feel free to email IAC with any comments. 
 
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"Like" IAC on Facebook!

 
IAC invites you to visit its Facebook page targeted to the public. The page is intended for parents and all interested Facebook users to learn about vaccines and their importance. 
 
Recent Facebook posts include information from a newly released CDC study that shows HPV vaccination is lowering rates of HPV, new Facebook application from Sounds of Pertussis featuring Campaign Ambassador Sarah Michelle Gellar, hepatitis A outbreak information and vaccination resources, and more. 
 
If you have a personal or organizational Facebook page, please take a minute to Like IAC on Facebook. Thanks! 
 
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