A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that childhood vaccination rates in the U.S. are dropping, and that vaccination exemptions are reaching an all-time high. Vaccine exemptions are legal allowances to forego child vaccinations for either medical, religious or personal reasons.
Meanwhile, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is calling the long-established childhood vaccine schedule into question as the country is seeing an outbreak in once-eliminated diseases like measles.
This has a group of grandparents concerned, so much so that they've created a group called "Grandparents For Vaccines," founded by a retired Shaker Heights pediatrician. Their goal is to encourage vaccinations by sharing stories of living through deadly diseases that have become preventable with modern medicine, but that they fear will come back if parents continue to opt out of vaccinations for their kids.
In the second half of Tuesday’s "Sound of Ideas,” we’ll turn our attention to supporting veterans of the wars on Iraq and Afghanistan.
It's been 24 years since the Sep. 11 terrorism attacks, and initial deployment of troops to Afghanistan.
Since 2001, around 2.5 million veterans served in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom. As those conflicts were ongoing, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America organization was established to advocate for those serving in the middle east.
IAVA is currently led by CEO Kyleanne Hunter, who recently shared about their work with "Sound of Ideas" Coordinating Producer Drew Maziasz.
Guests:
-Arthur Lavin, M.D., Retired Shaker Heights pediatrician & Founder, "Grandparents For Vaccines"
-Patrick Crago, Polio survivor
-Bruce Vanderhoff, M.D., Director, Ohio Department of Health
-Kyleanne Hunter, Ph.D., CEO, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
-Drew Maziasz, "Sound of Ideas" Coordinating Producer
