Jab campaign sends timely message

Published Wednesday, 09 July, 2014 at 12:24 PM

JOINT STATEMENT

Premier
The Honourable Campbell Newman

Minister for Health
The Honourable Lawrence Springborg

The Queensland Government’s push to raise immunisation rates ramped up today with the unveiling of a new strategy, complete with a smart device immunisation app.

Premier Campbell Newman said the ‘VacciDate’ smart phone app will allow parents to track vaccine and booster dates.

“This strategy will extend the range of our current work aiming for higher vaccination rates of 95 per cent of Queensland children and 85 per cent of adolescents,” Mr Newman said.

“To achieve better frontline health care for Queenslanders, we need bold targets. We are setting our sights high and re-calibrating our efforts to deliver childhood immunity of 95 per cent.

“This is a cornerstone for the strategy, and demonstrates the importance of timeliness, if as a community we are to reach these higher targets.”

Health Minister Lawrence Springborg said the immunisation strategy involved close co-operation between the Government and key stakeholders such as GPs, who deliver 84 per cent of vaccinations.

“If we can increase the ease with which people at all ages can access appropriate vaccinations, we are more likely to increase immunisation rates,” Mr Springborg said.

“We will also communicate the real truths about vaccination, which is where the marketing campaign comes in.”

“Experts around the world agree that vaccination is the single most effective way of protecting our communities from preventable conditions.

“Our immunisation rates generally match or are higher than national figures, but there are pockets of real concern in Queensland, such as the Sunshine Coast where only 87.9 per cent of five year-olds are fully vaccinated.

Vaccines listed on the National Immunisation Program Schedule are free for eligible children and adults.

To read the strategy, visit the Queensland Government’s publication portal at https://publications.qld.gov.au/ and search for immunisation.

For more information on immunisation visit the Queensland Government website: www.qld.gov.au/health/conditions/immunisation/index.html

[ENDS] Wednesday 9 July 2014

 

AUDIO AVAILABLE: https://soundcloud.com/qldpremier/immunisation-strategy

Media Contact: Cameron Thompson 0407 585 230

Fast facts:

  •          Currently over 15,000 Queensland children aged one, two and five are not fully immunised
  •          An  immunisation rate of  95 per cent is the immunisation campaign’s target, which will provide optimal protection against all vaccine preventable diseases  
  •          Main area of concern in Queensland is the Sunshine Coast which currently has 89.6 per cent of one and two year-olds fully immunised, and 87.9 per cent of five year-olds.