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The AAP supported the 1993 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA), which aims to:
* Remove systemic barriers to immunization
* Encourage improvement of data collection on children's immunization status.
* Ensure that every, child receives age-appropriate vaccination
The AAP will continue to support efforts to improve immunization rates in children, including:
* The development of new vaccines
* The creation of a vaccine tracking system
* Immunization is the safest & most cost-effective way of preventing disease, disability & death.
* One in four American preschool children is incompletely immunized.
* Immunization rates for preschoolers range from 40 to 60%, with rates in some inner-city areas as low as 10%.
* The measles epidemic between 1989-91, largely due to unimmunized preschoolers, was associated with more than 55,000 measles cases, 44,000 days spent in hospitals and 160 measles-related deaths.
* Society can save as much as $30 for every $1 spent on childhood immunizations. (Source: Philip Lee, MD, Assistant Secretary for Health, JAMA, April 27, 1994)
* A routine varicella (chicken pox) vaccination program for healthy children would cost approximately $162 million a year, but would save more than $5 for every dollar invested. (Source: JAMA, February 1, 1994.)
* Of the 20,000,000 cases of sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs) reported annually, 1/3 occur in school-aged youth.
* The AAP assisted in the development of materials on diagnosing and managing middle ear fluid (otitis media with effusion) in children.
* Most cases of middle ear fluid clear up by themselves in a few months. Observation or antibiotics are options in the early stages. However, antibiotics are effective only in a small percentage of cases.
* Information on ear infections is available free-of-charge by calling the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) Clearinghouse at 1-800-358-9295.