National goals and objectives for the control of vaccine-preventable diseases of infants and children.

In September 1990, the leaders of 71 countries, including Canada, gathered at the United Nations for the world summit for children. World leaders committed their governments to act on behalf of children and signed a declaration establishing a number of child health goals with respect to disease eradication or reduction and immunization coverage. This resulted in Health Canada’s commitment to support the development of national child health goals through the Children at Risk Initiative Program. Although most of the initiative was to be led by the Health Programs and Services Branch (HPSB), it was agreed that the Laboratory Centre for Disease Control (LCDC), Health Protection Branch would collaborate with HPSB in the process of developing national child health goals and would lead the specific development of goals for vaccinepreventable diseases. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), the Advisory Committee on Epidemiology (ACE), and the Advisory Committee on Community Health (ACCH) identified a need for a coordinated approach to the control of communicable diseases. In the fall of 1991, LCDC presented a discussion paper on vaccinepreventable disease goals to ACCH. Further to that discussion, LCDC presented a framework for the development of national goals at the July 1992 ACCH meeting. This development was to rely on a process of discussion and consensus building.