title: Impact of the CDC's Section 317 Immunization Grants Program funding on childhood vaccination coverage.
abstract: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Section 317 Grants Program is the main source of funding for state and jurisdictional immunization programs, yet no study has evaluated its direct impact on vaccination coverage rates. Therefore, we used a fixed-effects model and data collected from 56 US jurisdictions to estimate the impact of Section 317 financial assistance immunization grants on childhood vaccination coverage rates from 1997 to 2003. Our results showed that increases in Section 317 funding were significantly and meaningfully associated with higher rates of vaccination coverage; a 10 dollars increase in per capita funding corresponded with a 1.6-percentage-point increase in vaccination coverage. Policymakers charged with funding public health programs should consider this study's findings, which indicate that money allocated to vaccine activities translates directly into higher vaccine coverage rates.
authors.affiliation: Health, Social Science, and Economic Research unit of RTI International, Atlanta, Ga 30341, USA. drein@rti.org
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Rein
authors.forename: Amanda A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Honeycutt
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rojas-Smith
authors.forename: James C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hersey
mesh_terms: D002487:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. / Q000191:economics*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D035082:Federal Government; D005380:Financing, Government; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007223:Infant; D018803:Models, Economic; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012946:Social Welfare; D013219:State Government; D014481:United States; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*