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ST. PAUL, Minnesota — Governor Arne Carlson and First
Lady Susan Carlson yesterday recognized the effectiveness
of public-private initiatives in achieving Minnesota's high
childhood immunization rates.
At a press conference yesterday morning at Regions Hospital
in St. Paul, the Governor and First Lady joined state health
care and public health officials in citing Hallmark Cards,
Inc. for its "labor" in providing free greeting
cards about immunization to new mothers in the state since
February 1998. The cards are baby steps in a larger initiative
spearheaded by the Minnesota Council of Health Plans in which
birth packets containing helpful, easy-to-understand information
about immunizing children are delivered free of charge to
new birth mothers in Minnesota.
"The first gift a baby should receive is protection
from harmful disease," said Michael Scandrett, executive
director of the Minnesota Council of Health Plans. "By
assisting parents in keeping their babies healthy, birth packets
are just one of many initiatives contributing to Minnesota's
rank as the nation's healthiest state in six of the last nine
years."*
The immunization birth packets were borne out of a task force
representing Minnesota's nonprofit health plans and state
and local public health agencies. More than 60,000 new birth
mothers in Minnesota received the packet last year. Each birth
packet includes:
- a refrigerator magnet reminding parents when to immunize
their children
- a schedule of immunizations
- hints on relieving pain and keeping kids comfortable before,
during and after shots
- tools for easy recording of a child's health history
The council bears two-thirds of the packets' annual $85,000
cost, with the remainder brought to term by the Minnesota
Department of Health. Conceived in English and translated
into six languages, the birth packet is part of ongoing work
among Minnesota's health plans and state and local public
health agencies to improve immunization rates that are trimesters
ahead of national averages. The council's goal is to reach
90 percent childhood immunization rates in Minnesota by the
Year 2000.
New mothers who have not already received a birth packet,
should contact the Minnesota Department of Health at 800-657-3970
or 612-623-5100 to have one mailed to their home or business.
*Source: The ReliaStar State Health Rankings, 1998
Established in 1985, The Minnesota Council of Health Plans
is a trade association representing Minnesota's nonprofit
HMOs, health plans and coordinated care systems.
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