The Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Accessed 20 April 2013

Childhood Immunization Leaves Adults Behind
Michael Hodin
Executive Director, Global Coalition on Aging
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-hodin/childhood-immunization-le_b_3108828.html

The World Vaccine Congress meets this week for its annual marquee event in Washington D.C.

For an event that is supposed to “tackle the full spectrum of industry concerns,” one item is conspicuously missing from their agenda: adult vaccines. As the global population ages, a “life-course approach” to immunization — one that stresses vaccination in the adult years — may become one of the great drivers of health and wellness in the 21st century.

The Vaccine Congress isn’t alone in missing this point. The global health community has barely begun to recognize how vaccination can enable a healthy, active aging process. This aha! moment had better come soon, because vaccination isn’t just good health policy, it’s great economic policy. We learned this lesson with childhood vaccination — which was, to be sure, one of the 20th century’s greatest public health victories and economic achievements…