Cherokee County (GA) April 11, 2012 - Cherokee County Health Immunization Outreach Coordinator Nancy Stackhouse, LPN, is the 2012 CDC Childhood Immunization Champion for the state of Georgia.The CDC Childhood Immunization Champion Award is a new annual award that recognizes individuals who make a significant contribution toward improving public health through their work in childhood immunization.
Each year, up to one CDC Immunization Champion from each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia will be honored. Awardees for the inaugural year are being announced in conjunction with National Infant Immunization Week, April 21-28, 2012.
The Champion Award recognizes individuals who are working at the community level. It honors those who are doing an exemplary job or going above and beyond to promote or foster childhood immunizations in their communities. When nominating and selecting their Champion, states base their nominations on this spirit.
According to Denise Bowman, Manager of the Cherokee County Health Department, "Nancy definitely speaks to the spirit of this award."
In her position at the Cherokee County Health Department, Ms. Stackhouse is involved in daily community promotion and education of childhood immunizations. During the past twenty-nine years in public health, she has been a community leader in immunization issues while collaborating with schools, churches, businesses, and other agencies to foster childhood immunizations.
Among the many qualities that make Ms. Stackhouse a true childhood immunization champion are her drive and her unique ability to utilize a myriad of strategies to capture the hard-to-reach and under-immunized population in Cherokee County.
Ms. Bowman said, "Nancy's ongoing advocacy of childhood immunizations mirrors the mission of the National Immunization Program in prevention of disease, disability, and death from vaccine-preventable diseases in children and adults.
For more information about the new CDC Childhood Immunization Award, log onto http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/events/niiw/champions/childhood.html. Learn more about National Infant Immunization Week at http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/events/niiw/index.html.