Healthcare 12: Alberta Child Immunization Stakeholder Report

This report delves into the critical issue of child immunization in Alberta, advocating for its mandatory implementation. It begins by identifying key stakeholders, including pediatricians, the World Health Organization, the Canadian Public Health Association, the Minister of Health, and parents, each wielding varying degrees of influence. The report emphasizes the importance of pediatricians' expertise, the WHO's global perspective, and the parents' pivotal role in decision-making. A policy brief is then presented, directed at the Canadian Minister of Health, outlining the rationale for mandatory immunization, its benefits in preventing infectious diseases, and the current situation, including low immunization rates in Canada compared to other countries. The report highlights the need for public awareness, addressing parental concerns, and the importance of the Minister's final decision. The report concludes by emphasizing the need for proactive measures to protect children's health and prevent diseases, advocating for the crucial role of parents in ensuring their children's timely vaccinations.

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University
Title of the Paper
Author
31 August 2024
Professor’s name
Program of Study

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Should it be mandated that children under the age of 18 receive routine immunization schedule
as defined by Alberta Health
Stakeholder Identification
Good Public health is an essential aspect in life, which must be greatly considered12 and
therefore, the Alberta Health Services came up with a childhood immunization schedule. This
schedule was meant to be one of the greatest health interventions that would ensure all children
are prevented from contracting infectious diseases. Due to the importance of the immunization, it
should be made mandatory for all children under the age of 18 to receive the routine
immunization8. There are several stakeholders who are involved in the issues related to
childhood immunization. These stakeholders include the pediatricians, World Health
Organization, Canadian Public Health Association, the Minister of health, and finally, the
parents5. The final decision maker in matters concerning child immunization and any other
health-related issues is the Minister of health Ms. Petitpas Taylor, who has been authorized to
make public health decisions. All these stakeholders have diverse levels of influence in the child
immunization schedule of Alberta.
Being among the key stakeholders in influencing child immunization policies, the
pediatricians are always involved in making decisions that involve the immunization routine.
Pediatricians are health professionals who are strictly specialized in treating children, and that is
the reason why they should be involved when developing the policy14. These individuals can
influence the immunization schedule as they have intensively studied matters concerning the
body of a child, and they know the weaknesses and strengths of the children’s body1. Therefore,
their wide knowledge about children gives them a better position on deciding whether

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immunization is good or bad for the children’s bodies. The pediatricians are likely to support the
idea of mandating the child immunization routine because they are aware of the fact that a
child’s body is always at a high risk of being exposed to infectious diseases and thus they would
prefer prevention5. Since most parents highly believe in the professionals, when they get the
message directly from the professionals, they will ensure they adhere to the instructions and
advice given. This parent- doctor relationship is what makes the involvement of the pediatrics
necessary for the success of the matter.
World Health Organization is a global organization that is mainly concerned with public
health. This special agency was mainly developed to intervene and ensure that public health is
promoted among its member states. The World Health Organization has an influence on the
Alberta Child immunization routine as public health is their main concern as an agency1. This
key stakeholder has high chances of supporting the motion of Alberta routine of child
immunization being mandated to all children. The reason for this assumption is because this
organization has conducted several researchers and has satisfied that the immunizations are safe.
The health agency has also been seen in several cases agitating for immunization in various other
member states, and therefore Canada will not be an exception2. The involvement of the World
Health Organization may help in making the proposal successful.
Children under the age of 18 are the most significant stakeholders in this issue. They are the
ones that are going to receive the vaccination directly. Children that receive the vaccinations are
the ones that are going to benefit. They will have an opportunity to develop a strong immunity to
deal with the disease in case of future incidences. However, children do not have the right to take
part in policymaking, and as such, they have to be presented by their parents and other bodies9.

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Human right bodies can push for the signing of the policy so as to ensure that all children have
access to the good healthcare system.
The Canadian Public Health Agency is a special department in the government of Canada
that was introduced with the aim of helping the Canadian citizens to improve on their health
through preventing diseases that are of a threat to good public health. Being a governmental
health agency, it has a high level of influence when making decisions in matters concerning the
health of its citizens. This agency should be considered in the development of the policy as it has
the ability, authority, and resources to carry out civic awareness as well as sensitizing the public
to consider taking their children for immunizations thus making the development successful.
The Canadian parents are among the most important stakeholders in the child immunization
routine as they have the greatest influence. They are considered as the greatest influencers
because they are responsible for bringing up children, and they also have the decision to either
take their children for vaccination or not8. All the other stakeholders have the ability to advocate
for child immunization, but without the consent of the parents, the children will still not be taken
for immunization. Therefore, when making decisions concerning the development of the policy,
the parents should be highly involved and convinced to acknowledge the Alberta child
immunization routine. Parents always want the best for their children, and they are therefore
likely to either accept or reject the development of the immunization policy depending on the
quality of knowledge they will be exposed to about immunization. Parents have the greatest
influence in the issue as once they have accepted the issue, they will all willingly take their
children for the necessary vaccinations and when they reject the proposal, they will not present
their children for the vaccinations.

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The Minister of health in Canada becomes the major decision-maker when it comes to
mandating child immunization in accordance with the Alberta health routine. The entire health
sector is led by the Minister of health who has been appointed by the government to manage and
promote health-related issues13. When making the development policy and negotiations, the
Minister should always be involved as she is in charge of making the final decision of whether
child immunization should be declared mandatory in Canada or not. Despite the fact that all the
other stakeholders might be in support of the proposal of mandating without the consent of the
Minister, the proposal cannot be legalized. The Minister is likely to accept the proposal because
as a medical professional, she clearly understands the vulnerability of children when it comes to
infections. Therefore, the involvement of the Minister in the negotiations increases the chances
of the proposal succeeding.
Policy brief for the decision-maker
Title
This briefing note targets the Canadian Minister of Health, and the briefing is about
mandating the idea that all children below the age of 18 should receive the Alberta health routine
immunization.
Purpose
The main purpose of this briefing is to explain to the Minister of health why it is important
for her to make it mandatory for all the Canadian children below 18 years of age to receive the
routine immunization that was outlined by the Alberta health services. Child immunization is an
important issue in public health that was mainly designed to protect the children’s weak
immunity from affected by infectious diseases. However, since it has not been made mandatory

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in the Country, most parents choose not to take their children for these immunizations, thus
exposing them to high risk of being infected by various diseases. Some of the diseases that are
prevented by the vaccines include; tetanus, whooping cough, Polio, Pneumonia, Diphtheria, and
Measles, among others. The briefing also includes background information about child
immunization, the opinion of the Canadian Public Health Agency about child immunization, the
current situation concerning immunization and finally, recommendations that can help improve
child immunization.
Background
Vaccines are drugs that are given to children below the age of 18 to prevent them from
contracting serious infectious diseases. Each of the issued vaccines is only effective when
offered at its appropriate time. The health of children is important yet very vulnerable to
infections; thus, prevention is important. Due to this, the Alberta Health Services in Canada
came up with an immunization routine with the aim of boosting the immunity of children. Their
immunization routine consists of the vaccination, the disease being vaccinated, and the
appropriate time of vaccination. Despite the goodwill of the Alberta health services in providing
the vaccines, most of the Canadian parents are still hesitant in taking their children to receive
these important vaccines. Attitude and doubt have been the major factor that makes most parents
hesitant to accept child immunization, and this is a matter that should be given great
consideration. Some parents fail to take their children for vaccination because of the fear of the
existing diverse side effects while others have heard the recent failure of the effectiveness of
these vaccinations. However, there are parents from the marginalized communities that live in
the interior areas who are still uninformed of the existence of these vaccines. The findings of the
research also showed that most individuals get negative and untrue information concerning

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vaccines from the internet and social media sites. All these have caused parents to hesitate to
expose their children to vaccination which is a critical health aspect. Therefore, the ministry of
health, on conjunction with other health stakeholders needs to come out clearly and explain the
importance of vaccination to the citizens. The health minister should also declare child
immunization mandatory in Canada so that the citizens can realize how important and serious
vaccination is.
In most cases, people have been known to reject vaccination, mainly based on their religious
beliefs. Some people believe that their children will be saved by their God that they are saving
and as such, they do not need any modern medication in their children. Such parents have been
known to lock their children in their houses even when they are sick. Some people also believed
that modern medicine is toxic chemicals that make the health of their children worse than they
are. In such cases, those people will only ensure that their children are treated with herbal
medicine and that they do take their children to the hospital. Parents that fail to take their
children to the clinic should be held accountable for their failure to ensure that children below
the age of eighteen have access to affordable healthcare. Preventing the disease is better than
taking measures to treat the disease, and that is the main reason parents should be mandated to
ensure that their children are immunized at the right time.
Some parents tend to let their children get away with whatever they want. Such are the
parents that may fail to ensure that their children fail to get vaccinated because the child does not
wish to be injected because of their phobia for needles. Parents should take charge and put the
health of their children first. They should be the ones that are dragging their children to the clinic
to get the vaccination.

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Current situation
Research done by UNICEF in 2014 showed that the recent child immunization rates in
Canada are low compared to that of other countries, and this raises concern1. Among the 29
countries involved in the research, Canada was at position 28, yet child immunization is always
used as an indicator that a country has effective preventive health services. The research which
proved the poor performance of Canada in child vaccinations pushed UNICEF to demand the
providers of vaccination services in Canada to give the matter more attention5. The low
immunization rates in Canada have denied the Country an opportunity to appear among the
highly ranked nations in promoting public health. Due to the bad report, the Canadian Public
Health Agency has currently put measures in place to try and increase the rates of child
immunization within the Country.
Currently, many clinics take part in informing their patients the importance of ensuring that
all their children under the age of eighteen are immunized at the same time6. They encourage
their patients to bring their children to the clinic so that they can administer the relevant
immunization.
Options
There are two main options for this proposal. The first option is that the act of immunizing
children should be made mandatory by the ministry of health failure to which the parents will
face law issues. On the other hand, the second option is that parents should be educated on child
immunization and thereafter left to take their children for immunization at their own will. Both
of these options have their own advantages and disadvantages. The first option of forcing parents
to take their children for immunization is advantageous in that all the Canadian children will

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finally be immunized. However, its main disadvantage comes in when the children experience
adverse side effects. In such a case, the parents will blame the ministry for their children’s
conditions. For instance, a research conducted showed that previously in 2013 there had been a
Measles outbreak in Canada which was a clear indicator that their measles vaccine had failed and
in that case, the Department of Public health was questioned9. The second option of parents
being allowed to make their own decisions is advantageous because parents will not only take
their children for vaccinations because it is a rule but because they personally understand its
importance. On the other hand, its disadvantage is that some parents will be educated but still
choose to be ignorant as their children are at risk of being infected by various diseases. From the
analysis of the 2013 crisis, most stakeholders prefer parents to take their children to be
vaccinated voluntarily5. Therefore, considering the advantages and disadvantages of both
options, the stakeholders will be impacted positively by the second opinion of parents being
given the opportunity to decide the fate of their children's health.
Recommendations
Finally, I would recommend that the Minister of health should work hand in hand with other
stakeholders with influence in child immunization to organize a civic education program that
would be spread out to reach all citizens even at grassroots level that will clearly help them to
understand the importance of acknowledging the stated Alberta health services routine on child
immunization.
The ministry of health should also make plans of making these immunization services
available to all citizens through making an effort of the door to door visits so as to help
individuals who cannot easily access the health facilities due to either proximity or disability.

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When the ministry considers these two recommendations, most of the parents will have factual
knowledge about immunization as well as have the ability to get the services easily.

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References
1. Ariba P. Immunization Coverage in Children Aged 12-23 Months in Srinagar District,
Jammu and Kashmir (Doctoral dissertation, SCTIMST).
2. British Columbia Immunization Committee Professional Education Working Group.
Immunization communication tool for immunizers. Vancouver, BC: Provincial Health
Services Authority; 2013.
3. Betsch C. Advocating for vaccination in a climate of science denial. Nat Microbiol. 2017
Jun 27;2:17106.
4. Benny PV. Pentavalent vaccine–critisised in Asian countries. Int J Prev Ther Med.
2014;2:1-2.
5. Children’s Hospitals Australasia. Charter on the Rights of Children and Young People in
Healthcare in Australia. Children’s Hospitals. Deakin: Children’s Hospitals Australasia,
2014.
6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Talking with parents about vaccines for
infants. Bethesda, MD: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2018.
7. Department of Health. Getting the Right Start: National Service Framework for Children
and Young People: Standard for Hospital Services. Central Manchester and Manchester
Children’s University Hospital NHS Trust. 2016.
8. Frew PM, Lutz CS. Interventions to increase pediatric vaccine uptake: An overview of
recent findings. Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics. 2017 Nov 2;13(11):2503-11.
9. MacDonald NE, Law BJ. Canada’s eight-component vaccine safety system: a primer for
health care workers. Paediatrics & child health. 2017 Jun 15;22(4):e13-6.

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10. Rossi R. Do maternal living arrangements influence the vaccination status of children age
12–23 months? A data analysis of demographic health surveys 2010–11 from Zimbabwe.
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perinatal immunization education: a cluster-randomized controlled trial. Vaccine. 2017
Mar 14;35(12):1645-51.
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coverage among migratory and non-migratory population in slums and construction sites
of Chandigarh. Journal of Urban Health. 2015 Apr 1;92(2):304-12.
13. Scheifele DW, Halperin SA, Bettinger JA. Childhood immunization rates in Canada are
too low: UNICEF. Paediatrics & child health. 2014 May 1;19(5):237-8.
14. Trivedi D. Cochrane Review Summary: face-to-face interventions for informing or
educating parents about early childhood vaccination. Primary health care research &
development. 2014 Oct;15(4):339-41.