TheImmunization Alliance is an Americanvaccine advocacy consortium, assembled under the auspices of theAmerican Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in May 2008. The Immunization Alliance has called for a governmental information campaign, ongoing research into vaccine safety and efficacy, balanced media coverage, and restoration of confidence among parents due tovaccine hesitancy and the relatedcontroversies in autism.[citation needed]
Citing the largestmeasles outbreak in the United States since 1966 (130 cases in fifteen states),Paul Offit, a member of the Alliance, asserted that this re-emergence of a common childhood disease was a warning about the dangers of "what can happen when parents are misinformed about vaccine safety.[1] "We do not want to become a nation of people who are vulnerable to diseases that are deadly or that can have serious complications, especially if those diseases can be prevented," saidRenee Jenkins, president of the AAP.[2]The Immunization Alliance's debut was announced in the July 2008 issue ofPediatrics (published by the AAP), which also detailed its plans for improvingvaccine schedule adherence and combating decliningimmunization rates.[citation needed] Gina Ley Steiner, Director of Public Information for the AAP at the time, was responsible for building this non-profit coalition.
The Immunization Alliance's stated goals include increasing public education about vaccines by both public health organizations and individual physicians, and increasing federal funding and media coverage surrounding the science of vaccine safety.[3]
Over twenty organizations form the Immunization Alliance, including:[citation needed]