Vaccinate Your Family (VYF), formerly known as Every Child By Two (ECBT), is a
non-profit organization, based in the
United States, which advocates for
vaccinations. Founded in 1991, its stated goals are to "raise awareness of the critical need for timely
immunizations and to foster a systematic way to immunize all of America's children by age two."
ECBT was founded by former First Lady of the United States
Rosalynn Carter and former First Lady of
Arkansas Betty Bumpers
Betty Lou Bumpers ( née Flanagan; January 11, 1925 – November 23, 2018) was an American politician, advocate for childhood immunizations, and world peace activist, who served as the First Lady of Arkansas from 1971 to 1975. Together, she and R ...
.
ECBT was renamed to Vaccinate Your Family in 2018.
Background
In 1991, Rosalynn Carter and Betty Bumpers founded Every Child By Two (ECBT) in response to a measles outbreak in which around 150 people, including young children, died as a result of contracting the disease.
At the time, Carter said, "It is imperative that we move quickly to increase our capacity to vaccinate children who are at risk for
measles
Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...
and other diseases, such as
mumps
MUMPS ("Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System"), or M, is an imperative, high-level programming language with an integrated transaction processing key–value database. It was originally developed at Massachusetts Gener ...
,
rubella
Rubella, also known as German measles or three-day measles, is an infection caused by the rubella virus. This disease is often mild, with half of people not realizing that they are infected. A rash may start around two weeks after exposure and ...
and
polio."
Carter and Bumpers started the national immunization awareness project by enlisting the help of governors' spouses to advocate for vaccinations
with the goal of immunizing 95% of U.S. children against diseases like
diphtheria, measles, and rubella by the year 2000.
The group also expanded their educational outreach to include information about other vaccine preventable diseases, including
chickenpox
Chickenpox, also known as varicella, is a highly contagious disease caused by the initial infection with varicella zoster virus (VZV). The disease results in a characteristic skin rash that forms small, itchy blisters, which eventually scab ...
,
,
and
HPV
Human papillomavirus infection (HPV infection) is caused by a DNA virus from the '' Papillomaviridae'' family. Many HPV infections cause no symptoms and 90% resolve spontaneously within two years. In some cases, an HPV infection persists and re ...
.
VYF has partnered with such groups as the
American Nurses Association,
(PKIDs),
, state health departments,
schools and universities.
ECBT is also part of the
Immunization Advocacy Coalition.
VYF supports the use of immunization registries through which health care providers can track children's immunization histories for the purpose of reducing the number of missed immunizations.
it is a member of the
Vaccine Safety Net
Vaccine Safety Net (VSN) is a global network of websites aimed at helping people judge the quality of online information on vaccine safety. It was established in 2003 by the World Health Organization (WHO), which had previously set up the indepen ...
.
Awards
1995 -
Kiwanis International Award and $10,000 grant for "bringing attention to early immunization."
2008 -
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Champion of Prevention Award at the 34th National Immunization Conference in
Washington, D.C
)
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, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
.
See also
*
Vaccine-preventable diseases
*
World Immunization Week
References
External links
Vaccinate Your Familyhomepage
{{Rosalynn Carter
Vaccination-related organizations
Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C.
Health and disability rights organizations in the United States
1991 establishments in the United States
Organizations established in 1991
Rosalynn Carter
Vaccination in the United States
Vaccination advocates