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| Press Room |
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| Immunization Action Coalition |
| Contact: Julie Murphy |
| (651) 647-9009 |
| Email:
julie@immunize.org |
| Immunization Action Coalition |
| April 24, 2012 |
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| Immunization Action Coalition's Associate Director Receives Childhood Immunization Champion Award from CDC |
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| Saint Paul,
Minnesota, Tuesday, April 24, 2012—The
Immunization Action Coalition (IAC), one of the nation's
premier sources
of immunization information, is proud to announce that its
associate director for immunization projects, Diane C.
Peterson,
has been selected as the Minnesota recipient of the first annual Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Childhood
Immunization Champion Award. The Champion Award
recognizes individuals who are working at the community
level. It honors
those who are doing an exemplary job or going above and
beyond to promote or foster childhood immunizations in their
communities. |
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| Each year, this newly
established award will honor up to one CDC Immunization
Champion from each of the 50 states and the
District of Columbia. Award recipients for the inaugural
year were announced during National Infant Immunization Week
(NIIW),
April 21 to 28, 2012. |
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| During NIIW, Ms. Peterson
will receive a certificate of recognition, be featured on
CDC's NIIW website, and be commended by
the
Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) at a special event. |
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| The award recognizes Ms.
Peterson as one of Minnesota's longest serving leaders in
saving children's lives through safe and
effective immunization. Peterson's career in immunization,
spanning nearly 40 years, has been devoted to increasing the
number of children, in Minnesota and nationally, who are immunized and to improving the safety and effectiveness with
which
vaccines are delivered to them. She has led major projects
at the MDH including developing policies to equitably
distribute
vaccine resources to children statewide, working with
legislators to ensure passage of laws that increase immunization rates
in childcare facilities and schools, helping initiate
Minnesota's immunization registry, creating the initial plan
for
Minnesota's implementation of the federal Vaccines For
Children program, developing innovative education materials
for
healthcare professionals and the public, and promoting
immunization to the media, parents, and others through her
role as an
MDH spokesperson. |
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| Ms. Peterson responded to
the recognition, saying, "I am humbled to be honored as an
immunization champion by the Minnesota
Department of Health and CDC. I am grateful for a career in
protecting people from completely preventable diseases by
helping
make sure they are vaccinated." |
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| Peterson's commitment to
protecting children continues today in her work at IAC where
she develops immunization education
materials for healthcare providers and parents, and helps
formulate sound state and national immunization policy. She
has
been with IAC since 2002. |
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| "Diane has worked tirelessly
to make sure that parents are fully informed about the
necessity of immunizing their children,"
said IAC's Executive Director Deborah Wexler, MD. "Her
tracking of state laws that affect immunization policy and
her
collaborating with state health departments, medical
societies, coalitions, and private providers to improve
legislation has
undoubtedly resulted in the vaccination of large numbers of
children who otherwise might not have been protected." |
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About the Immunization
Action Coalition |
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| IAC's immunization
educational tools have a strong impact on the education,
attitudes, and practices of healthcare
professionals throughout the nation, making IAC one of the
most respected and relied-upon immunization organizations in
the
United States. IAC is also a direct source of immunization information for the public. IAC's two major websites receive
more
than 20,000 visits per day, and its email news service
broadcasts weekly immunization updates to more than 45,000
opt-in
subscribers. |
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| Click
here for
a fully formatted PDF version |
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| This page was updated
on April 24, 2012 |
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Immunization Action Coalition • 1573 Selby Ave • St. Paul, MN 55104 |
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tel 651-647-9009 • fax 651-647-9131 |
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This website is supported in part by a cooperative agreement from the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (Grant No. 5U38IP000290) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, GA. The website content is the sole responsibility of IAC and does not necessarily represent the official views of CDC. |
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