This op-ed was originally published in The Tennessean, written by the Metro Board of Health. Read the full article here.
The mission of the Nashville/Davidson County Metropolitan Public Health Department is to protect, improve and sustain the health of all people in Davidson County.
Being true to that commitment, the Board of Health and MPHD Director Wendy Long find it an essential responsibility to promote efforts that will lead to an increase in the vaccination rate throughout the community.
Few public health interventions throughout history have proven as successful as vaccination in saving lives and extending life expectancy.
The World Health Organization estimates that vaccines save up to 3 million lives worldwide each year. Extensive study is conducted to assure the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, with rigorous review by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Adequate rates of vaccination protect not only those who receive them but create a “herd immunity’’ effect that protects those who are too young or medically frail to receive the vaccinations directly.
Unfortunately, the United States is seeing a resurgence of certain vaccine-preventable diseases, most notably measles. Nationwide, recent outbreaks of measles have occurred where pockets of unvaccinated individuals have made possible the spread of a disease that was once considered eradicated in the United States. Cases of measles in locations as nearby as Kentucky, Georgia and East Tennessee point to the need to assure Davidson County children are appropriately protected. School starts in a matter of weeks.
The Metro Board of Health strongly encourages parents and guardians to keep their children safe by fully immunizing them. We request that health care providers take every opportunity to promote and to provide immunizations to their patients. And finally, we fully support concerted efforts at the state level to reduce or eliminate non-medical exemptions from vaccination.