title: Fifty years of immunisation in Australia (1964-2014): the increasing opportunity to prevent diseases.
abstract: Medicine has seen dramatic changes in the last 50 years, and vaccinology is no different. Australia has made a significant contribution to world knowledge on vaccine-preventable diseases. Certain deadly diseases have disappeared or become rare in Australia following successful introduction of vaccines. As diseases become rarer, public knowledge about the diseases and their serious consequences has decreased, and concerns about potential vaccine side effects have increased. To maintain confidence in immunisations, sharing of detailed information about the vaccines and the diseases we are trying to prevent is integral to the continued success of our public health programme. Modern quality immunisation programmes need to communicate complex information to immunisation providers and also to the general community. Improving immunisation coverage rates and eliminating the gap in coverage and timeliness between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous people has become a high priority.
authors.affiliation: NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Population Health Research - Immunisation in Understudied and Special Risk Populations, The School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Community Immunisation Paediatrician, NEST Family Wellness Clinic, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Royle
authors.forename: Stephen B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Lambert
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000208:ethnology / Q000266:history* / Q000517:prevention & control; D054626:Consumer Health Information / Q000266:history; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000208:ethnology / Q000266:history; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs / Q000266:history*; D014611:Vaccination / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000266:history*; D014612:Vaccines / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000266:history*; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000208:ethnology / Q000266:history* / Q000517:prevention & control; D000095283:Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
chemical_list: D014612:Vaccines
keywords: Aboriginal; coverage; immunisation; opportunistic; prevention