CANBERRA, June 12 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has launched a new five-year strategy to address declining vaccination rates.
Mark Butler, minister for health, on Thursday released the National Immunization Strategy for Australia 2025-2030, saying that it comes at a "critical time" when childhood vaccination rates in Australia are falling.
He said in a speech to the Communicable Diseases and Immunization Conference that vaccination coverage among Australians younger than five has declined for 15 consecutive quarters.
"Even though our childhood vaccination rates are still world-leading, they are trending in exactly the wrong direction and must be turned around," Butler told the conference in South Australia.
He said that childhood vaccination coverage against deadly diseases, including measles, polio and diphtheria, has fallen to 75 percent in some areas of Australia, below the government's target of 95 percent.
Data released by the government-funded National Center for Immunization Research and Surveillance in May revealed that 91.6 percent of Australian children aged 12 months in 2024 were considered fully vaccinated, down from 94.8 percent in 2020.
The new strategy aims to increase the immunization rate across Australia by reducing vaccine hesitancy and improving access, particularly for Indigenous children who have lower vaccination coverage than their non-Indigenous peers.
"Through this strategy, we're going to reduce the impact of vaccine-preventable diseases through high uptake of immunization that is safe, effective and equitable right across the community," Butler said.
The strategy says that the Australian government will explore the feasibility of a no-fault scheme to compensate individuals who have severe adverse reactions to a particular vaccine. ■
