The Infectious Diseases and Immunization Committee of the Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) regularly reviews the recommendations of Health Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) for the routine immunization of infants, children and adolescents. It also reviews the provincial and territorial immunization protocols. Discrepancies between what the NACI recommends and what each province and territory makes available for children and youth have been highlighted previously by members of this committee and the CPS (1-5). This note provides an update for physicians and other health care professionals on changes related to NACI recommendations (available at www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/im/ptimprog-progimpt/index.html) and to the provision of vaccines by each province and territory in Canada (available at www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/im/ptimprog-progimpt/index.html) (6-12). 

The committee again makes a plea that all infants, children and adolescents in Canada have equal access to all NACI recommended vaccines for routine use, and that a harmonized national schedule be developed. Living in a ‘have not’ region should not dictate whether a child or youth has access to a ‘routine’ NACI recommended vaccine, nor should a move from one jurisdiction to another put a child or youth at increased risk for missing a vaccine because of regional variations in vaccine schedules. 

As of fall 2003, the four ‘newer’ NACI recommended vaccines (varicella [9], meningococcal conjugate [10], pneumococcal conjugate [11] and adolescent pertussis [12] vaccines) were added or will be added to the schedules in some provinces and territories, albeit in many instances only for high-risk children. Details on these ‘newer’ vaccine additions by province and territory are available at www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/im/ptimprog-progimpt/index.html. As can be seen, none of the provinces or territories has a program for all of the ‘newer’ vaccines. Alberta comes closest, but does not yet fund adolescent and adult pertussis vaccines. In one territory (Yukon) and one province (Manitoba), three of the four ‘newer’ vaccines (varicella, meningococcal conjugate and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines) have not been added for routine use, although consideration is being given in Manitoba to add these for those at high risk of disease or complications. 

Considering that the NACI recommended the varicella vaccine for routine use in infants and children in 1999 (9), it is disconcerting that by 2003 only five of the 13 provinces and territories had implemented a routine use program, particularly since the available refrigerator stable product simplifies storage and delivery issues (13). While the NACI recommendation for adolescent and adult pertussis vaccine is relatively new (September 2003 [12]), it is heartening to see that, as of November 2003, seven of the 13 provinces and territories have included this vaccine in the routine adolescent vaccination schedule.  

Details of the routine infant, child and adolescent immunization schedules in each of the provinces and territories by age group are available at www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/im/ptimprog-progimpt/index.html. This is particularly important information for caregivers to consult when a child moves to a new jurisdiction because it clearly emphasizes the diversity of programs across the country. The continued marked variations across the country on the timing of the school-age hepatitis B vaccine and the second dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine leave children and youth on the move at increased risk for missed doses. While one can recognize that in the past, different jurisdictions took different approaches based on local customs and practices, there is little scientific evidence to support one schedule over another. 

A harmonized national immunization schedule would have great merit because it would reduce the risk of missed doses, further cost savings through larger purchases, and provide more uniform teaching of vaccine schedules for physicians, nurses and families. It would also simplify immunization registries and facilitate the transfer of immunization records across jurisdictions when the child or adolescent moves. The ongoing inertia in moving toward a national immunization strategy is disquieting given the professed support from all quarters for health care reforms that improve access, use resources more efficiently and lead to improved health (14).

Considering these ongoing discrepancies in access and the complexity of schedules across jurisdictions, we need to work to ensure implementation of a national immunization strategy. It must support a harmonized national schedule and guarantee access for all children and youth in Canada to all NACI recommended routine immunizations, regardless of where they live or what their families can afford to pay. Given that immunizations continue to be one of the most cost-effective preventive health measures available today, such a national strategy would clearly be in the best interest for improved health for all of our children and youth. 

The recent seed money of $45 million over five years to “assist in the pursuit of a national immunization strategy” (15) announced by the federal government in the 2003 budget is a good first step, but it is not sufficient. As noted in A Report of the National Advisory Committee on SARS and Public Health October 2003 (16), a national immunization strategy needs to be implemented more quickly and more generously. What is needed is a federal-provincial cooperative agreement that will ensure a stable pool of dedicated resources to allow the purchase, delivery and monitoring of NACI recommended vaccines for all infants, children and adolescents in Canada, regardless of the province or territory in which they live. This is what our children and youth need and deserve – not the patchwork vaccine quilt full of holes that exists today. 

References

1. MacDonald NE. Disharmony in provincial and territorial immunization schedules: A downside of recent developments. Paediatr Child Health 1997;2:171-2. 

2. Scheifele DW. New vaccines and the rising costs of caring. Paediatr Child Health 2000;5:371-2. 

3. Embree J. Assessing immunization programs. Paediatr Child Health 2002;7:613-4.

4. Lynk A. A call to arms (and legs): Implement the National

5. Immunization Strategy. Paediatr Child Health 2002;7:615-6.

6. MacDonald NE, Embree J. Access to vaccines: A call to action. Paediatr Child Health 2003;8:11-2.

7. Health Canada, National Advisory Committee on Immunization. Canadian Immunization Guide, 6th edn. Ottawa: Health Canada, 2002. 

8. Health Canada, Population and Public Health Branch, Division of Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. Immunization Schedule. <www.hc-sc.gc.ca/pphb-dgspsp/dird-dimr/is-cv/index.html> (Version current at December 17, 2003).

9. Sampson H. An update in reference to the newer vaccines to the Canadian routine immunization schedule. Impact News 2003;12:3.

10. Health Canada, National Advisory Committee on Immunization. Statement on recommended use of varicella vaccine. CCDR 1999;25:1-16.

11. Health Canada, National Advisory Committee on Immunization.Statement on recommended use of meningococcal vaccines. CCDR 2001;27:2-36.

12. Health Canada, National Advisory Committee on Immunization. Statement on recommended use of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. CCDR 2002;28:1-32.

13. Health Canada, National Advisory Committee on Immunization. Prevention of pertussis in adolescents and adults. CCDR 2003;29:1-5.

14. Health Canada, National Advisory Committee on Immunization. Update statement on varicella vaccine. CCDR 2002;28:1-8.

15. Romanow RJ. Building on Values – The Future of Health Care in Canada. Commission on the Health Care in Canada – Final Report. November 2002.
    <www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/pdf/romanow/pdfs/HCC_Final_Report.pdf> (Version current at December 17, 2003).

16. National Immunization Strategy. In: Budget 2003. Investing in Canada’s Health Care System. Ottawa: Department of Finance, 2003:15.

17. Health Canada. Report of the National Advisory Committee on SARS and Public Health. Ottawa: Health Canada, 2003.

For more detailed information on your provincial immunization program, please contact your local public health office.

Canadian Paediatric Society, Infectious Diseases and Immunization Committee (2003-2004)

Committee Members: Drs Upton Allen, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario; H Dele Davies, East Lansing, Michigan (USA); Simon Richard Dobson, BC’s Children Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia; Joanne Embree, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba (Chair); Joanne Langley, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia; Dorothy Moore, Montreal Children’s Hospital, Montreal, Quebec; Gary Pekeles, The Montreal Children’s Hospital, Montreal, Quebec (Board Representative)
Consultants: Dr Gilles Delage, Héma Québec, Saint-Laurent, Quebec; Noni MacDonald, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Liaisons: Drs Scott Halperin, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia (IMPACT); Susan King, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario (Canadian Paediatrics AIDS Research Group); Larry Pickering, Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia (American Academy of Pediatrics)
Principal author: Dr Noni E Macdonald, Canadian Paediatric Society, Dalhousie University

Correspondence: Dr Noni MacDonald, Department of Paediatrics, Dalhousie University and the IWK Health Centre, 5840 University Avenue, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3J 3G9. Telephone (902) 470-8799, fax (902) 470-7975, e-mail noni.macdonald@dal.ca