Preventing Disease
As a parent, you work hard to protect your baby, and vaccines are a valuable tool in your ongoing efforts to keep your child healthy and safe. Vaccines offer the best-known protection against a number of devastating illnesses, but they must be administered on a timely basis in order to protect your children at the earliest possible opportunity; protecting them when they are most vulnerable.
According to one study, the recommended childhood immunization series prevents approximately 10.5 million cases of infectious illness a year and 33,000 deaths in the United States alone.* Another report jointly published by the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the World Bank found that 3 million lives are saved worldwide each year through childhood immunizations -- a number that could be doubled with increased funding.
* Zhou, et al, "Economic Evaluation of Routine Childhood Immunization with DTaP, Hib, IPV, MMR and Hep B Vaccines in the United States," Pediatric Academic Societies Conference, Seattle, Washington, May 2003.