Vaccines save lives. They protect both vaccinated individuals and entire communities by preventing the spread of infectious diseases.
National Infant Immunization Week is April 24-May 1.This year’s theme is, “Love them. Protect them. Immunize them.” The awareness campaign highlights the importance of protecting infants from vaccine-preventable diseases and celebrates the achievements of immunization programs and their partners in promoting healthy communities.
Managed Health Services, which provides affordable healthcare to more than 211,400 Hoosiers who receive health insurance through the Hoosier Healthwise program, is stressing the importance of infant and child immunizations this last week of April by encouraging members to schedule well-baby and well-child visits for their children and ensure their immunizations are current.
“Parents, healthcare providers and the media are important partners for promoting National Infant Immunization Week,” said Dr. Robert Baker, vice president of medical affairs at MHS. “These groups are all key stakeholders in ensuring children are fully immunized by two years old. The resounding message to parents on the MHS healthcare plan is to set aside 15 minutes now, schedule pediatrician and physician appointments and have their children immunized.”
Because of the success of vaccines in preventing disease in the U.S., parents are often unaware that their children are at risk for so many serious and life-threatening diseases, Baker said.
“Infants are particularly vulnerable to infectious diseases. Nearly 12,000 babies are born here each day and they will need to be immunized against 14 vaccine-preventable diseases before they reach age 2,” Baker said.
Raising awareness about the importance of infant and childhood immunizations is another step MHS is taking to get its members throughout the state to focus on living healthy lives. With a focus on infants and children, MHS hosts quarterly Health Check Health Days throughout Indiana, geared toward providing members the opportunity to complete recommended well-baby and well-child examinations. MHS reminds parents to keep their children’s immunizations up to date through birthday-card reminders and outreach calls. MHS is also in the midst of conducting Healthy Lifestyles events in several Indiana communities which offer important blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol screenings free of charge to its members.
Immunization schedules that parents can follow are posted on Managed Health Services’ Web site at www.managedhealthservices.com. Parents can visit the Web site and click on the Community Events tab to learn about Health Check Health Day and Healthy Lifestyles opportunities in their community.
MHS is headquartered in Indianapolis in the Landmark Center at 1099 N. Meridian St. MHS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of St. Louis-based Centene Corp., a leading, multi-line healthcare enterprise that offers both core Medicaid and specialty services.
Posted in Blog, Members | No Comments »
