Mission Ready and Confident in your Preventive Health
This post is sponsored by the American College of Preventive Medicine
Taking a proactive role in one’s own health is a central part of the wellness routine for many. It is part of the “growing up” experience for children in the United States, and grown-ups consider it a key factor in their “adulting” practice. It can save lives, eradicate certain diseases, and improve overall health of the surrounding communities.
Vaccines are one of the most important parts of maintaining your health and the health of your family. Staying up to date on vaccines is vital, and it can mean ensuring your children receive their routine vaccinations of childhood to attend public school; updating your medical records for deployment, study abroad, or an OCONUS PCS; or even being proactive to prevent or reduce some types of illnesses. Recently, however, confusion has surfaced surrounding information about vaccinations. Today, Dr. Hunter Jackson Smith (MD, MPH, MBE) will be sharing valuable information to clarify some of the questions about vaccines in general and the overall wellness journey.
Dr. Smith is a member of the American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) and Chief of Preventive Medicine for the U.S. Army Medical Research Directorate-Africa, based in Kisumu, Kenya. In this role, he actively works on clinical trial research on a variety of vaccines. As such, vaccinations are undoubtedly within his realm of expertise, and he is joining ACPM in their mission to share accurate information about long-term health and wellness. Science and history have shown that just as eating healthy and being active are part of staying healthy to prevent conditions like diabetes and heart disease, so is getting routine vaccinations for preventing dangerous infectious diseases such as hepatitis or measles.
Vaccines have essentially kept the United States free of many deadly and/or debilitating diseases for decades, including polio, measles, and smallpox, among others, saving more than 8 million lives each year. Not only do vaccines help protect you from getting the disease, they help make sure you don’t spread the disease to your friends, loved ones, and community as well. They protect everyone, and particularly those at risk who are too young to get vaccinated, elderly, and people with poor immune systems.
Despite their necessity and long-standing evidence of benefits, millions of American families have not yet resumed their regular schedule of preventive medical and wellness visits. Since the onset of COVID-19, there has been a dramatic decline in routine vaccinations. Did you catch that? Routine vaccinations. Vaccinations and proactive healthcare visits that have been an important component of maintaining individual and family health have taken a hit due to the pandemic. According to one recent study, 26 million Americans missed their routine vaccinations in 2020. With so many children behind on routine vaccinations, the rise of other preventable illnesses like measles and whooping cough are a risk. Dr. Smith highly recommends getting back to regularly scheduled routine vaccinations to mitigate the risk of future health challenges for children and adults alike.
Military families and parents know just how important it is to stay on a schedule and maintain a routine that keeps everyone healthy and on track. Vaccinations are part of mission readiness for the service member who may receive orders to travel to certain areas. They are required not only for OCONUS moves, but also everyday activities, like children attending school in-person, registering for Child and Youth Services (CYS) events, sports participation, and more.
Looking ahead, military spouses, service members, and their families must be vigilant to protect themselves and surrounding communities from getting sick from other diseases—and routine vaccines provide that needed protection. Dr. Smith and ACPM encourage you to stay up to date with critical vaccines including flu, shingles, and measles.
The team of physicians with Vaccine Confident also urges military spouses to consider receiving the COVID-19 vaccine if they have not already done so. A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that COVID-19 vaccines saved an estimated 240,000 lives during the first half of 2021. If you have questions about routine vaccinations or the COVID-19 vaccine, talk with your doctor or contact the team at Vaccine Confident to have your question answered by a preventive medicine physician.
Ultimately, Dr. Smith is proud to be a part of ACPM’s Vaccine Confident campaign, to help spotlight the critical role vaccines play in overall health – and to help build confidence in the safety and efficacy of vaccines. Vaccines are a critical component in maintaining one’s overall health and well-being.
Military spouses are notorious for being ready for anything. Consider staying up-to-date on vaccines, both individually and as a military family, as part of your mission readiness strategy.
The contents, views, or opinions expressed in this article are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect official policy or position of U.S. Army Medical Research Directorate-Africa, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, the Department of Defense (DoD), or Departments of the Army, Navy, or Air Force. Mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
