Decreasing Rates of Immunization in Australia

DECREASING RATES OF IMMUNIZATION 1
Decreasing Rates of Immunization in Australia
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Decreasing rates of immunization in Australia
Immunisation is whereby an individual, through a process, is made resistant to an
infectious illness through administering them with a vaccine. These body’s immune is stimulated
by the vaccines to provide protection against any future disease or infection quickly. It has been
proven that when people get immunized it can act as a way to eliminate and control infectious
illnesses which are life-threatening (World Health Organization, 2018). The reason why people
get immunized is to ensure individuals do not get infections and also are protected from the short
and long term complications like cancer as a result of these infections. There are nine diseases
which are routinely immunized against from childhood and they include; diphtheria, whooping
cough, tetanus, rubella, mumps, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), hepatitis b and
measles (Quinn and McIntyre 2011, pp. 670). The rates of immunization in Australia keep on
decreasing which shows it is a current health issue but there are strategies in place which helps
the rates in the country to increase. These strategies have both barriers and enablers in their
implementations. Nurses play a role in implementing the strategies which ensure rates of
immunization goes up.
Even though it is quite important for children to get immunized for this variety of
reasons, the rates of children actually getting immunized are decreasing in Australia. According
to Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY), children in the country are
falling behind on their immunization. The rates of children being immunized have dropped by
2% from 2008. ARACY stated that the percentage of two-year-old children who are fully
vaccinated stands at 90.5% which is below Australia’s target of it being at 95% and above. The
rates of immunization in some parts of the country still remain too low and they also do not meet
their set targets for immunizations. Also, the rates of older people getting immunized are quite

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low in the country with it being at 50 to 60 percent. Therefore this shows it is not only the young
ones whose rates of immunization are going down but also the aging (Atkinson, Wolfe and
Hamborsky 2011).
The decreasing rates of immunization is a contemporary health issue in Australia for
different reasons. The benefits of immunizing individuals in our communities against diseases
and therefore prevent them from getting infected far outweigh the risks associated with the
vaccination. Most people want to see the benefits to believe and they do not see this because one
cannot know the number of times that their children have used their immunity against the
preventable diseases they may be exposed to (Menzies, Turnour, Chiu and McIntyre 2008, pp.
65). Therefore because of such doubts, it has led to many people questioning if it is really vital to
vaccinate their children, therefore, the rates of those getting immunized is continually dropping.
It becomes a health issue in that when there is no herd immunity, this is where Australians reach
or surpass the target of 95% and above being immunized, it will lead to the spread of preventable
diseases. When these rates continue to drop, it increases the risk of these diseases spreading
across the population who have not been vaccinated against it. Therefore diseases which before
were on the brink of being eliminated are now becoming more common as a result for example
rubella and mumps (Gidding at.al 2016, pp.200).
When these preventable diseases start spreading because the immunizations programs
have been compromised, it leads to increased mortality rates as a result. When more and more
people are dying due to these preventable diseases, it leads to a strain on the healthcare system
which was designed more to prevent these diseases and less to handle outbreaks of them. It leads
to unnecessary deaths as a result. This decrease in the rates of immunization should be targeted
because it is quite essential for more efforts to eliminate these diseases which can be and this can

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be realized through immunization. It is quite sad when individuals die from preventable diseases,
therefore, the Australian government should put more effort into the strategies that are in place to
increase the rates of immunization (Smith et.al 2014, pp.92).
Currently, the Australian government is implementing the National Immunisation
Strategy for Australia 2013-2018 in an effort to increase the rates of immunization in the country
and it focuses on the National Immunisation Programme (NIP). The strategy is quite beneficial
to the country as it is in line with the Commonwealth’s and regions efforts to bring reforms to the
healthcare system and also focus more on health and not treating illnesses. All of this contributes
to ensuring that Australia has a better preventive healthcare system in place thus beneficial to all
her citizens either old or young (Browne, Thomson, Rockloff and Pennycook 2015). The
audience that this strategy intends to target is the Australian government and other stakeholders
who are providers of immunization services.
The National Immunisation Strategy for Australia focuses on NIP. NIP is a program
where there is routine set by the Australian government for children to get immunized against
specific preventable diseases in accordance with the goals set by World Health Organisation
regulations. The program gives these vital vaccines free of charge to infants who are eligible,
kids, teenagers, and adults. The strategy is comprised of eight areas of action which are strategic
priorities and they ensure that NIP is successfully delivered (Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention 2011). The eight strategic priorities of the strategy include the following; first method
in this strategy is to ensure there is an improvement in the coverage of immunization in the
country and for the rates of immunization to increase and be successfully delivered to all
Australians. It ensures this by ensuring that the NIP schedule is followed by all Australian
citizens. This method also works to identify the geographical areas in Australia where