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Immunization Workgroup expanding their mission to include Safe Kids initiative
Recently, the Tioga County Partnership partnered with local departments and organizations, such as Maternal Family Health Services, to offer successful car seat safety checks. These events were well received by community members and sparked a new discussion at Immunization Workgroup meetings. Since then, the Immunization Workgroup (IWG) of the Tioga County Partnership decided on a change to their mission to accomodate the Safe Kids initiative.
This initiative works to
reduce injuries from motor vehicles, sports, drownings, falls, burns, poisonings and more.
The mission expansion is a nod to retired workgroup, Community Health Awareness: Kids First Committee from which the ever popular Children's Health Fair + Family Activity Day originated. It has since grown immensely under the planning, coordination, and fundraising efforts of the Wellsboro Chamber of Commerce with help from the Wellsboro Montessori Children's Center, and the Tioga County Partnership.
The
dedicated IWG volunteers whose backgrounds include epidemiology, nutrition, disease and injury prevention, and a lifetime of work in the healthcare sector as registered nurses and health-related organization supervisors, collectively decided that a full time focus on child injury prevention was a necessary addition that
will
go along with their mission to protect people from preventable diseases through immunization.
While the workgroup's mission will expand to accommodate the Safe Kids initiative, immunizations will remain an important central focus. As of late there has been a resurgence of preventable diseases due to anti-immunization sentiments that have circulated in the US. The risk for contracting these preventable diseases has increased and so it is dually important for the group's immunization work to continue. The group is gaining new members and is excited to charge forward in their work to improve quality of life for all Tioga County residents with their new expanded focus.
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