Government+Involvement

= ** Government Regulation/Involvement ** = = Federal History Regarding Immunization = media type="custom" key="6269815" width="99" height="99" Outside of licensing and specific drug regulations(see timeline), the first federal law concerning consumer protection and pharmaceuticals was the Vaccine Act of 1813, which was used to help provide uncontaminated, safe smallpox vaccines to the public. It was later repealed in May 1822 and the rights were given to states as apposed to the federal government. In 1904, the Supreme Court decided to remove the individual's right to refuse vaccine immunization, except for a few exceptions (see below to Exception from Vaccines ). The Immunization Assistance Act was created by Congress in 1965 to help provide vaccines in areas of need and the Vaccines for Children Program(VFC) was created in 1993 by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 to ensure every child had the opportunity to receive the vaccines they needed and is overseen by the CDC since is creation. In 1986, the HRSA created the National Childhood //Vaccine// Injury //Act// of 1986 to provide compensation to children and their families who suffered complications due to vaccines. A recent legislation piece approved by Congress was the Mercury-Free Vaccines Act of 2007. This Act bans significant amounts of mercury from being used in vaccines being given to children under seven and pregnant women. For a complete list of all of today's federal laws and regulations see the [|Center for Disease Control and Prevention's website.]

PSAs and Propaganda
The United States Federal Government, also, creates many PSA or Public Service Announcements and Posters about vaccines. The Health and Human Service Department has specific control over PSA. The HHS tries to cater the videos to the viewers, using music, cartoon characters and personal stories to make the public listen.

The Health and Human Services created a video contest to get people involved, gather publicity and show people supporting immunizations and finally, to reach different viewers. Here is the winning video chosen to advertise for the H1N1 vaccine: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Flu-Prevention-Can-Be-Fun media type="youtube" key="_gwUdmPl0bU" height="364" width="445"

This PSA uses music and beat to try to get the viewers attention: media type="custom" key="6275975" Source: []

In this PSA, the government has used a children's tv show character to promote vaccines and immunizations. =media type="youtube" key="P06q3a67kVQ" height="240" width="297"= Source: []

This poster was created by the CDC to promote the Oral Polio Vaccine in 1963, using the "Wellbee" to promote vaccination.

source: = = = State Regulations = States have a majority of power when it comes to exemptions and specific regulations. The first vaccine regulation in the United States was in Massachusetts in 1809, requiring school children to receive the small pox vaccine. Between 1809 and 1963, more than twenty states adopted vaccine requirements for school children. By the end of the 1970's (after the measles outbreak), all states had some law regarding immunization requirements for school children. To see your states law regarding immunization requirements see here.

= = = = = Vaccine court = Throughout the years, many Court sessions have been held concerning immunizations. Many of these being controversy surrounding the science and links to other diseases. Go to the Effectiveness/Controversies page for more info.

= Exemption from Vaccines = = = Citizen can obtain legal exemption under four different categories. Since, exemption is handled by states and not by the federal government, each state has different rules and regulations regarding exemption. The federal government has had no formal say in recent years regarding exemption, other than the Immunization Legislation of 2004. The four categories of exemption under our system are: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin are the only states that allow citizens to refuse vaccines for Philosophical beliefs or personal beliefs. Citizens must uses this reason for refusing all vaccines, not picking and choosing which vaccine they want. Some states including, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine allow citizens to refuse a vaccine if they show proof of immunity to the virus. A titer test or blood test is used to confirm the immunity of individuals. To obtain medical exemption, individuals must obtain a signed statement by a Medical Doctor (M.D.) or Doctor of Osteopathy (D.O.) stating that the vaccine would be detrimental to the health of the individual. All 50 states honor medical exemption. 48 states allow religions exemption from vaccines, with Mississippi and West Virginia not allowing the exemption. The individual must sincerely believe that a state forced immunization would be an infringement to their religious rights. Certain states require a written statement from a pastor or spiritual leader or other waivers signed for religious exemption to vaccines.
 * Philosophical Exemption**
 * Proof of Immunity** **Exemption**
 * Medical** **Exemption**
 * Religious** **Exemption**

For a complete list of exemption rulesby state, go to Vaccine Exemption List. = = = Works Cited = @http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/RS21414.pdf @http://www.vaccinesafety.edu/exemptreview101503.pdf @http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lmn94kn08Lw @http://www.flu.gov/psa/ @http://www.know-vaccines.org/exemption-legal.html @http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page @http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=10&ved=0CDwQFjAJ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abopharmaceuticals.com%2FThimerosalFreeStates.pdf&rct=j&q=mercury+childhood+vaccines+federal+act&ei=lkoGTI-hMIP48AbGvZCSDA&usg=AFQjCNGrFzz2KHZsoY4po2om9A8W72nkGg @http://www.ncsl.org/IssuesResearch/Health/ImmunizationLegislation2004/tabid/14099/Default.aspx

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