Vaccines for Children: Refocusing the Program's Goal and Implementation
(Testimony, 06/15/95, GAO/T-PEMD-95-23).

More than 95 percent of the nation's children receive recommended
vaccinations by the time they enter school.  Preschool children were
overrepresented, however, in the widespread measles outbreaks of
1989-91, a situation attributed to underimmunization. The Vaccines for
Children Program, created in 1993, is intended to boost immunization
coverage for children by reducing the costs of the vaccines for their
parents.  Yet GAO concludes that the cost of vaccine for parents has not
been a major barrier to childrens' timely vaccination. Moreover, the
Centers for Disease Control cannot guarantee that the program will reach
pockets of need--areas or populations in which immunizations rates are
low and the risk of disease is high.  GAO concludes that better use of
Medicaid, public health clinics, and other health providers may hold a
better promise of immunizing children against disease at a cost lower
than that of the program.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  T-PEMD-95-23
     TITLE:  Vaccines for Children: Refocusing the Program's Goal and 
             Implementation
      DATE:  06/15/95
   SUBJECT:  Immunization programs
             Immunization services
             Children
             Physicians
             Health care cost control
             Disadvantaged persons
             Infectious diseases
             Community health services
IDENTIFIER:  CDC Vaccines for Children Program
             Medicaid Program
             Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and 
             Children
             AFDC
             Aid to Families with Dependent Children Program
             WIC
             
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