Policies to remove parents' ability to opt-out from school immunization requirements on the basis of religious or personal beliefs (ie, nonmedical exemptions) may be a useful strategy to increase immunization rates and prevent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease. However, there is uncertainty about the effectiveness of this strategy and the range of possible outcomes. We advocate for a more deliberative process through which a broad range of outcomes is scrutinized and the balance of values underlying the policy decision to eliminate nonmedical exemptions is clearly articulated. We identify 3 outcomes that require particular consideration before policies to eliminate nonmedical exemptions are implemented widely and outline a process for making the values underlying such policies more explicit.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2017.1868 | DOI Listing |
Lancet Reg Health West Pac
January 2025
National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, NSW, 2145, Australia.
Background: Data on impact of financial penalties for non-vaccination are sparse. Australia has required full vaccination for government family assistance payment eligibility since 1998. In 2016, the No Jab, No Pay (NJNP) policy removed registered non-medical objection as exemption option and increased eligibility assessment to yearly.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVaccine
January 2025
Pritzker School of Law, Northwestern University, USA.
Importance: Childhood vaccination rates have declined in recent years; there is also concern that resistance to COVID-19 vaccines could spill over to childhood vaccines.
Objectives: To use local-level data to study trends in childhood vaccination rates and heterogeneity in local rates; including how many areas are below herd-immunity thresholds, and assess the association between COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and childhood vaccination.
Design: We report, for 11 states with available data, vaccination rates for measles, mumps, rubella (MMR), and diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccines, including percentage of schools/counties with rates ≥95 %, 90-95 %, 80-90 %, and < 80 %.
Res Involv Engagem
November 2024
Division of Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
Background: Though social determinants are the primary drivers of health, few studies of people living with HIV focus on non-clinical correlates of insecure and/or fragmented connections with the care system. Our team uses linked clinical and multisector non-clinical data to study how residential mobility and connection to social services influence the HIV care continuum. We engage a diverse group of individuals living with HIV and other invested community members to guide and inform this research.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPublic Health Rep
November 2024
Saint Louis County Department of Public Health, Berkeley, MO, USA.
Objectives: To gather perspectives on childhood vaccination and vaccine hesitancy, the Saint Louis County Department of Public Health (DPH) surveyed parents seeking nonmedical exemptions, conducted focus groups of school nurses, and interviewed pediatricians.
Methods: We distributed exemption forms and voluntary questionnaires to parents in St Louis County who were seeking nonmedical exemptions for their school-aged children at any DPH clinic from August 2019 through December 2022. We conducted and recorded four 75- to 90-minute focus groups of 11 school nurses in groups of 2 or 3 nurses in September 2022.
BMC Health Serv Res
August 2024
School of Public Health, College of Heath Science, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Background: In low and middle-income countries (LMICs), non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are on the rise and have become a significant cause of mortality. Unfortunately, accessing affordable healthcare services can prove to be challenging for individuals who are unable to bear the expenses out of their pockets. For NCDs, the treatment costs are already high, and being multimorbid further amplifies the economic burden on patients and their families.
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