Canadian children still don't have equal access to all recommended vaccines

Main Category: Immune System / Vaccines
Article Date: 26 Sep 2005 - 0:00 PST

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Despite $300 million in federal government funding since 2003 for immunization programs, children across Canada still do not have equal access to all vaccines recommended by the Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) and the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI). While most provinces and territories now have publicly-funded programs for some or all of the vaccines, parents in some jurisdictions must pay for vaccines themselves.

"It shouldn't be that only children in Alberta have publicly-funded access to all immunizations according to CPS and NACI recommendations, while children in other jurisdictions do not," says Dr. Joanne Embree, chair of the CPS Infectious Diseases and Immunization Committee. "Access to disease-preventing vaccines needs to be equitable across Canada"

The renewed call comes on the heels of a new CPS report, Are We Doing Enough? A status report on Canadian public policy and child and youth health, released in June and the publication of two new positions statements on varicella (chickenpox) and meningococcal vaccines. All three documents call attention to the fact that in some provinces children do not have publicly-funded access to all recommended vaccines and many don't offer the programs according to recommendations.

"What we really need is a harmonized immunization schedule right across the country," added Dr. Embree, a paediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of Manitoba. "For example, currently if a child born in Manitoba moves to another province before reaching Grade 4, he or she may miss receiving the meningococcal vaccine because it was offered in the new province only in infancy. This shouldn't be the case."

Universal coverage of paediatric vaccines offers all children and youth protection against potentially life-threatening diseases. In recent years, vaccines have been introduced to protect against varicella, adolescent pertussis (whooping cough) and certain forms of meningitis (meningococcal and pneumococcal infections).

The Canadian Paediatric Society is a national professional association, representing more than 2,200 paediatricians, that advocates for the health needs of children and youth. CPS reports and position statements are available online at http://www.cps.ca.

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