IDSA Vaccine Advocacy Toolkit Now Available

IDSA has developed a new toolkit for members who would like to advocate for evidence-based vaccine policy at the state and local level, created in response to member concerns about anti-vaccine legislation being considered in multiple states.

The toolkit contains:

• strategies for effective advocacy,
• an anti-vaccination legislation primer to help members understand the types of bills that anti-vaccine groups may champion,
• talking points on the importance of childhood immunization as well as the harm that anti-vaccination bills can cause,
• a timeline of recent outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases and their consequences, and
• two patient stories from an IDSA member about individuals who were harmed by vaccine preventablediseases.

IDSA also has an online tool through which we can encourage IDSA members in any state to contact their state legislators or governor should you wish to request support from fellow members in your local area. 

While IDSA cannot, at this time, monitor and react to state and local policy, we aim to provide resources for members who would like to engage in state or local advocacy and hope you find this toolkit useful. If you have feedback on this toolkit, or other issues for which you would like advocacy resources, please contact Colin McGoodwin, IDSA’s Program Officer for Public Health Policy.