National Infant Immunization Week
is April 25 - May 2, 2009
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Immunizations are vital in protecting infants from vaccine-preventable diseases. National Infant Immunization Week is an annual observance and call-to-action for parents and caregivers to ensure that infants are immunized against 15 vaccine-preventable diseases. This year's theme is: "Love Them. Protect Them. Immunize Them."
An average of 11,000 infants are born in the United States each day, and they need up to 27 doses of vaccine before the age of two to protect them from 15 vaccine-preventable diseases. Since the introduction of vaccines there has been a 99% decrease in most vaccine-preventable diseases, yet there are still roughly one million children in the United States, who by age two, are missing one or more of the recommended vaccine doses.
During National Infant Immunization Week 2009, communities across the United States will celebrate Vaccination Week in the Americas, while Europeans observe European Immunization Week. Some of the highlights include bi-national events along the U.S.-Mexico border, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Pan American Health Organization, the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission, state and local health departments, and other immunization partners.
Learn more:
National Infant Immunization Week
View and download National Infant Immunization Week communications materials
For more details and information on planning a National Infant Immunization event in English and Spanish.
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Tobacco Marketing and Prenatal Smoking |
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Although tobacco use continues to decline, it remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Aggressive new marketing campaigns targeted at women and girls depict cigarette smoking as feminine and fashionable, countering efforts to educate the public on the dangers of tobacco. A report funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation warns that these new marketing campaigns by Philip Morris USA and R.J. Reynolds "are putting the health of women and girls at risk." The report, Deadly in Pink: Big Tobacco Steps Up Its Targeting of Women and Girls, examines the history of tobacco marketing to women, as well as the potential benefits should Congress give the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate the manufacturing, marketing and sale of tobacco products.
Smoking can have devastating consequences during pregnancy. A study funded by the National Institutes of Health shows that prenatal exposure to smoking combined with a specific genetic variant (monoamine oxidase) places children at increased risk for behavioral problems. The researchers studied 176 Caucasian boys and girls, whose average age was 15, and kept accurate measures of their biologic mothers' smoking behaviors during the pregnancy. The results indicate that for both boys and girls, the more their mothers had smoked during pregnancy, the higher the risk of disruptive behavior in adolescence.
How LA Best Babies Network is Making a Difference
The Network's Healthy Births Care Quality Collaborative is working to improve screening, treatment and follow-up for women who continue smoking during pregnancy and those who quit within one year of pregnancy. The 10 clinics participating in the collaborative are provided with nationally recommended guidelines for pregnant women, and asked to follow the 5-A's for Smoking Cessation. For more information about the 5-A's, see the Networks brief "Smoking Cessation. "
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