Attendees at the American Academy of Pediatrics annual Leadership Forum urged the academy's leadership to support a national vaccine registry or information clearinghouse that would allow access to patient vaccine histories across state lines.
In addition, meeting attendees approved resolutions asking the AAP to form a new council on obesity to better focus antiobesity efforts in childhood and encourage increased knowledge on concussion and head injury prevention, AAP President Judith Palfrey said in an interview.
Immunization policy, especially regarding state registries, was the No. 1 topic at the forum, she said.
“The general public probably thinks we have [immunization] data on all children, but the fact of the matter is, we don't,” Dr. Palfrey said. For example, she said her home state of Massachusetts is working to create a permanent immunization registry.
The forum attendees adopted a resolution urging the AAP to create a mechanism allowing pediatricians “ready access to existing vaccine registries in all states” and to “support the establishment of, and consider the feasibility of sponsorship of, a national vaccine registry/clearinghouse with common electronic gateways to state registries, allowing ready access to vaccine histories of patients.”
Attendees also adopted a second immunization-centered resolution urging the AAP to “provide all appropriate, reasonable, legal, and fiscally sound support possible to any AAP chapter that requests assistance in its efforts to combat legislative or electoral attempts to roll back immunization efforts in its state.”
That resolution noted that several organizations actively advocate against routine universal immunization, and said that “one or more of these groups is considering a state-by-state legislative and electoral campaign to roll back current laws and regulations promoting immunization.”
However, attendees defeated a resolution that asked the academy to support the inclusion of a standardized document, signed by a child's pediatrician, indicating that a well-considered discussion of vaccine-preventable diseases and immunizations between the parent and the child's medical home has occurred before that parent can obtain a personal belief exemption (in states that allow such regulations).
Childhood obesity issues, which gained new prominence on the national level with the launch of First Lady Michelle Obama's “Let's Move” antiobesity campaign in February, also generated significant excitement at the meeting, Dr. Palfrey said.”
“As you can imagine, there's tremendous support for the First Lady's goals,” she said. “There was a great deal of discussion on the First Lady's initiative, Let's Move, and how we can be involved.”
The AAP, which joined the White House for the Let's Move launch, has pledged to urge pediatricians to measure body mass index (BMI) at well-child visits to determine if an intervention is necessary. The academy also has created materials for pediatricians to share with patients and their families if an obesity intervention is necessary, said Dr. Palfrey, the T. Berry Brazelton Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, Boston.
“All pediatricians should do a BMI [calculation] at each well-child visit so that becomes a routine part of our health maintenance,” she said. “We've also created a 'prescription' about healthy eating and fitness choices so that the pediatrician can have a conversation with the family and patient.”
At the forum, delegates approved a resolution urging the AAP to form an official obesity council to position the academy “to move forward in a stronger, broader, and more organized fashion to address the pediatric obesity epidemic.”
The forum attendees also spent some time debating measures intended to increase the use of guidelines for concussion that might occur in sports and other activities, Dr. Palfrey said. “The sports medicine group is concerned about everyone using good guidelines for concussions in youth,” she said. “It's important to do a good work-up and make sure they don't go back on the field until they've had a good period of healing.”
The forum adopted a resolution urging the AAP to “work to encourage increased knowledge in the area of concussion and head injury prevention and return to play guidelines through education of coaches, parents, athletic trainers, and health care providers.”
The resolution also calls on the AAP to “advocate for ongoing athletic team trainer education along with parental notification so that consistent evaluation occurs with community health care providers and [there is] appropriate utilization of the referral services for postconcussive evaluation.”
About 480 pediatricians attended the meeting. Resolutions approved at the leadership forum go to the AAP board of directors, which considers them as advice on the future direction of academy policies and procedures.
Dr. Judith Palfrey said, “The general public probably thinks we have [immunization] data on all children, but … we don't.”