H.C.R. No. 172 HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, With the exception of Bolivia and Haiti, the United 1-2 States has the lowest childhood immunization rate in the Western 1-3 Hemisphere, with Texas ranking last among all the states in 1-4 providing polio, measles, and diphtheria immunizations for 1-5 preschoolers; and 1-6 WHEREAS, In 1992, half of the nation's 2,200 measles cases 1-7 were reported in Texas and today 60 percent of two-year olds in the 1-8 state have not been completely immunized; and 1-9 WHEREAS, Many parents are simply unaware that such 1-10 vaccine-preventable childhood diseases as measles, mumps, and 1-11 whooping cough can cause permanent brain damage or even death so 1-12 they have not made immunizations a priority; still others believe 1-13 their children to be fully immunized when in fact they are not; and 1-14 WHEREAS, Alarmed by the very real threat of an epidemic, the 1-15 Texas Department of Health initiated the Shots Across Texas 1-16 campaign in 1993 to get children between the ages of birth and two 1-17 years fully immunized and the program is already producing 1-18 startling results; and 1-19 WHEREAS, Shots Across Texas is a public-private partnership 1-20 composed of a statewide coalition of leaders from all walks of life 1-21 as well as local coalitions in nearly all of Texas' 254 counties; 1-22 during the campaign's first year, Shots Across Texas helped boost 1-23 the immunization rate of children age 24 months and younger to 55 1-24 percent, with 32,000 more Texas children receiving their first set 2-1 of immunizations on time; and 2-2 WHEREAS, While these increases are a step in the right 2-3 direction, they are still a long way from the organization's goal 2-4 of a 90 percent immunization rate by 1996; to this end, local 2-5 coalitions from across the state will be coordinating educational 2-6 block walks, health fairs, free immunization clinics, and other 2-7 physician and community education programs during the week of April 2-8 22-29, 1995, which has been designated National Infant Immunization 2-9 Week; and 2-10 WHEREAS, This important event serves as an opportune time to 2-11 raise immunization awareness and to make immunizations more 2-12 accessible and affordable for all of the citizens of our state, and 2-13 the Texas Department of Health and Shots Across Texas coalition 2-14 members are indeed deserving of our highest praise and recognition 2-15 for their efforts to safeguard our state's most precious 2-16 resource--our children; now, therefore, be it 2-17 RESOLVED, That the 74th Legislature of the State of Texas 2-18 hereby recognize the week of April 22-29, 1995, as National Infant 2-19 Immunization Week and encourage all Texans to observe this occasion 2-20 by bringing their children's immunizations up-to-date and spreading 2-21 this important message to others.