By Davila                                            H.C.R. No. 172
       74R11124 PAN-D
                              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.