Every Child By Two

Every Child By Two (ECBT)
Founded 1991
Type Nonprofit, vaccination education
Focus Public understanding of vaccinations
Location
Method Education, outreach, and advocacy
Key people
 Rosalynn Carter, Betty Bumpers
Website www.ecbt.org

Every Child By Two (ECBT) is a non-profit health advocacy organization, based in the United States and founded in 1991, dedicated to protecting children from diseases through the promotion of vaccinations and raising parental awareness of potential vaccine benefits. The stated goals of ECBT are to "raise awareness of the critical need for timely immunizations and to foster a systematic way to immunize all of America's children by age two."[1][2][3][4][5] ECBT was founded by former First Lady of the United States, Rosalynn Carter, and former First Lady of Arkansas, Betty Bumpers.[6][7]

EBCT's pro-vaccination awareness raising campaigns have expanded in recent years in response to growing controversies in autism and vaccine controversies. ECBT's Vaccinate Your Baby campaign was launched in 2008 to raise the awareness of issues regarding vaccine schedule compliance and to provide information on the safety of vaccines based on peer reviewed science.[8]

Background

In 1991, Rosalynn Carter and Betty Bumpers founded Every Child By Two (ECBT) in response to a measles outbreak in which around 150 people, including young children, died as a result of contracting the disease.[3][9] At the time, Carter said, "It is imperative that we move quickly to increase our capacity to vaccinate children who are at risk for measles and other diseases, such as mumps, rubella and polio."[10] Carter and Bumpers started the national immunization awareness project by enlisting the help of governors' spouses to help spread the word about the importance of vaccinations [11] with the goal of immunizing 95% of U.S. children against diseases like diphtheria, measles, and rubella by the year 2000.[1] The group also expanded their educational outreach to include information about other vaccine preventable diseases, including chickenpox,[12] whooping cough,[11]HPV. [13][1][11]

ECBT has partnered with such groups as the American Nurses Association, [7] Parents of Kids with Infectious Diseases (PKIDs),[14] rotary clubs, state health departments,[5][15][16] schools and universities.[17][15] ECBT is also part of the Immunization Advocacy Coalition.[7]

Led by Carter and Bumpers, ECBT has been instrumental in getting laws passed in every state which mandates vaccinations for all children before entering school.[18][19]

Immunize On Time, Every Time

ECBT supports the use of immunization registries through which health care providers can track children's immunization histories and reduce the number of missed recommended immunizations.[18][19] Its 2006 Immunize On Time, Every Time health disparities project reached health care providers in Houston, Newark, Las Vegas, and Cleveland and was sponsored by Wyeth Vaccines.[5][5] The program later expanded to other states.[2][4]

"No child should slip through the cracks and no parent should have to wonder if their child is protected and up-to-date. Children who are not vaccinated on time are vulnerable to vaccine preventable illnesses and even death, and this initiative raises awareness of these dangers."
— Amy Pisani, Executive Director (ECBT)[2]

Education

ECBT strives to educate parents and support health care providers in their efforts to immunize children from vaccine preventable diseases. Carter identifies the following as among the many reasons why parents fail to immunize their children: lack of awareness that childhood diseases still exist (despite medical advancements), a belief (by parents) that their children have a "natural immunity" to ailments, poor health-insurance coverage, cost, and limited access to health care.[1][20]

ECBT emphasizes, in their statements to the press, the safety of vaccines: the rigorousness of the testing and safeguards that are in place once the vaccines are licensed. "Our campaign," Pisani says, "aims to dispel these myths and remind parents to get the facts before they make this critical decision regarding their children's health."[3]

EBCT also supports the 2009 Federal Court ruling by three judges in a case filed with the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (MMR) does not cause autism. The ruling reinforces the organization's stance that the decisions parents face in determining whether or not to vaccinate their children should be based on the expert opinions of the scientific community.[21]

ECBT's spokesperson for their Vaccinate Your Baby campaign, Amanda Peet, stated, "We are seeing outbreaks of measles again, a disease we had almost eliminated in the United States. The rumored link between vaccines and autism has been clearly disproven, yet the threat of these diseases is very real. Parents have to get the facts: vaccines save lives."[22]

Other ECBT spokespeople include Katie Van Tornhout of South Bend, Indiana, whose infant daughter, Callie, died in 2010 after being exposed to pertussis,[23] and Tim Jacks, a pediatrician from Gilbert, Arizona whose two children (one of whom was being treated for leukemia) were exposed in 2015 to measles by a child whose parents had chosen not to vaccinate against the disease.[24] Jacks spoke at a senate hearing held by Lamar Alexander investigating the reemergence of vaccine-preventable diseases in the United States.[24]

Criticism

In 2008, ECBT was criticized in a CBS News feature called "How Independent Are Vaccine Defenders?" that questioned the group's link with pharmaceutical companies and a possible risk for conflict of interest. The report stated that it was not illegal for the group to receive funds from the vaccine industry. A spokesperson for ECBT told CBS that "there are simply no conflicts to be unearthed."[25]

In 2014, ECBT was, again, criticized for its link to pharmaceutical companies when the group hosted the national launch of a pro-vaccine film, "Invisible Threat". Critics claimed that ECBT aids "the bottom line of industries that fund them" and questioned its characterization of the film as being produced by a group of "award-winning high school student filmmakers." The executive producer, director, camera operator, and interviewer for the film were, purportedly, not students, but adult parents or teachers of the students.[26]

Awards

1995 - Kiwanis International Award and $10,000 grant for "bringing attention to early immunization."[19]

2000 - Chiron Corporation grant to fund an outreach campaign to "all U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Women, Infant and Children (WIC) staff agencies to promote new vaccine recommendations for children 6-23 months of age and pregnant women."[27]

2006 - Chiron Corporation grant for public health education[28]

2008 - Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Champion of Prevention Award at the 34th National Immunization Conference in Washington, DC.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Quinn, Tom (October 26, 1995). "Slug-the-Bug makes sure kids get vaccinated". The Salt Lake City Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. B.2.
  2. 1 2 3 "Every Child By Two teams with four major cities to bring local children up-to-date on immunizations". PR Newswire (New York). March 8, 2007. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Anonymous (August 5, 2008). "Actor Amanda Peet joins with Every Child By Two and the American Academy of Pediatrics to Urge Parents to Get the Facts about Immunizations". US Newswire (Washington). Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Partnership for Cleveland Children's Vaccinations Announced; Alliance fights to raise Cleveland's low immunization rates with kick off at Kidsfest Saturday, July 22". PR Newswire (New York). July 17, 2006. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Houston Children's Vaccination Alliance Announced; The partnership fights to raise Houston's low immunization rates with kick-off event at Children's Museum of Houston, August 10". PR Newswire (New York). August 2, 2006. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  6. ↑ Quinn, Tom (April 1, 1993). "Ex-First Lady Urges Utahns to Immunize". Salt Lake City Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. B1.
  7. 1 2 3 "Vaccination campaign growing". Orlando Sentinel (3 Star Edition) (Orlando, Florida). January 8, 1993. p. E2.
  8. ↑ ECBT, VaccinateYourBaby.org
  9. ↑ Szabo, Liz (November 14, 2011). "Rosalynn Carter, vaccine advocate". Gannett News Service (McLean, Virginia).
  10. ↑ Papinchak, Steve (November 6, 1991). "Childhood vaccination drive pitched". Las Vegas Review-Journal (Las Vegas, Nevada). p. 2f.
  11. 1 2 3 Carter, Rosalynn (October 16, 1991). "U.S. must renew effots to fight childhood diseases". Austin American Statesman (Austin, Texas). p. A15.
  12. ↑ Hamilton, Carey (September 26, 2006). "Utahns' success in tots getting pox vaccine nudges ranking up". The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah). Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  13. ↑ Braff, Danielle (May 7, 2014). "HPV vaccines still face uphill battle: An STD association may obscure the fact that these shots help prevent some cancers". Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois). p. 2.
  14. ↑ Szabo, Liz (January 6, 2010). "Vaccine gaps cause outbreaks: missed shots weaken 'herd immunity,' and other children can get sick and even die". USA Today (McLean, Virginia). Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  15. 1 2 McCollum, M.J. (January 1997). "LaSalle honored for innovative immunization program". Philadelphia Tribune (Philadelphia, PA). p. 2-A.
  16. ↑ Bruno, Richard L. (April 21, 2008). "Polio: It never went away". The Record (Bergen County, NJ). p. A.13.
  17. ↑ Maeshiro, Karen (December 12, 1995). "Good Medicine: School shot program gets high mark". Daily News (Antelope Valley Edition) (Los Angeles, California). p. AV.1.
  18. 1 2 "Madison Information Technologies among winners of national award for E-Health Immunization effort". PR Newswire (New York). January 17, 2000. p. 1. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  19. 1 2 3 Greene, Jan (June 25, 1995). "Carter: Immunize Children". Las Vegas Review-Journal (Las Vegas, Nevada).
  20. ↑ "76% of our nation's children are fully immunized; immunization rates remain high yet challenges persist". PR Newswire (New York). Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  21. ↑ "Federal court declares vaccines do not cause autism". US Newswire (Washington). February 12, 2009.
  22. ↑ "Immunization rates remain strong". US Newswire (Washington). September 4, 2008. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  23. ↑ Boen, Jennifer L. (March 23, 2015). "Whooping cough a deadly disease: One Indiana family's story". McClatchy-Tribune Business News (Washington). Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  24. 1 2 "Sen. Lamar Alexander holds a hearing on the reemergence of vaccine-preventable diseases". Political Transcript Wire (Lanham, Maryland). February 11, 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  25. ↑ Attkisson, Sharyl (July 25, 2008). "How independent are vaccine defenders?". CBS News. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  26. ↑ "High school teacher joins forces with vaccine industry front group to promote film Invisible Threat: "Student Film" defending U.S. vaccine program was produced and directed by adults, not high school students". PR Newswire (New York). April 30, 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  27. ↑ "Chiron Foundation Awards Five Grants to Support Public Awareness for Initiatives for Global Infectious Disease Prevention". Business Wire (New York). March 24, 2005. p. 1. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  28. ↑ "US Financial Network: CytoDyn renews investment banking deal and Chiron foundation awards grants to seven organizations committed to fighting global health threats". M2 Presswire (Coventry, England). January 3, 2006. p. 1.

External links

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