The U. S. Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) and its Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) will launch National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW) with
events April 21-28, 2007. Hundreds of communities throughout the United
States are expected to participate in NIIW by sponsoring activities
emphasizing the importance of timely infant and childhood vaccination.

CDC and HHS will collaborate with state and local health departments,
the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission, and the Pan American
Health Organization (PAHO) on NIIW events across the United States,
including events in Nevada; Colorado; Hidalgo County, Texas, and
communities along the United States-Mexico border to promote and provide
infant vaccinations.

NIIW’s continuing theme is “Love them. Protect them. Immunize them.”

“We can now protect more children from more vaccine-preventable
diseases than ever before,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, Director of the CDC’s
National Center for Infectious and Respiratory Diseases. “Millions of
children have been vaccinated, and millions of cases of disease, disability
and death have been prevented.”

Every day, 11,000 babies are born in the United States who will need to
be immunized against 14 diseases before age two. Despite recent gains in
infant immunization coverage, more than 20 percent of the nation’s
two-year-olds are still not fully immunized against infectious diseases to
which they are especially vulnerable.

“The suffering or death from a vaccine-preventable disease is an
unnecessary human tragedy,” said Dr. Schuchat. “Let us renew our efforts to
ensure that no child, adolescent or adult will needlessly suffer from a
vaccine-preventable disease.”

CDC has English and Spanish-language public education campaign
materials available to communities, including television public service
announcements, posters, print advertisements, matte articles, and
educational materials for parents and providers. Additional information
about NIIW-VWA and childhood vaccination is available from CDC’s National
Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at
cdc/nip/events/niiw/default.htm. Information on VWA is
available at paho/English/DD/PIN/vw_2007.htm.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ mission is to protect
health and give a special helping hand to those who need assistance. The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention protects people’s health and
safety by preventing and controlling diseases and injuries; enhances health
decisions by providing creditable information on critical health issues;
and promotes healthy living through strong partnerships with local,
national, and international organizations. For more information please
visit cdc/nip

U. S. Department of Health and Human Services; Centers for Disease
cdc/nip/events/niiw/default.htm