NIIW (National Infant Immunization Week) was "celebrated" April 21-28.
If you're like me and have never heard of NIIW, it's "an annual observance to promote the benefits of immunizations and to improve the health of children two years old or younger." This year, for the first time since the group's inception in 1994, NIIW was celebrated as part of WIW (World Immunization Week). WIW is an initiative of the WHO (World Health Organization). [1]
NIIW, according to the CDC, "provides an opportunity to ...focus attention on our immunization achievements and celebrate the accomplishments made possible through successful collaboration." If you click on "Promotional materials" on the Web site, you'll find PR tools and links such as "Pitch and place childhood immunization PSAs all year long." There are even health e-cards doctors can send to their patients. One has a to-do list on the front and includes, in order, "car seats, outlet covers, cabinet covers, baby gates, smoke detectors, vaccines." Another starts with "I promise to" and is accompanied by the typical e-card music and a slew of promises for a pregnant mom, such as taking her pre-natal vitamins, eating a balanced diet, holding her baby all night when he's upset, changing 5,000 diapers a day, and learning everything she can about caring for her baby. It ends with, "I promise to protect you against 14 vaccine-preventable diseases by your 2nd birthday." [2] The site is filled with propaganda like this. Check it out?if you have the stomach for it.
http://vactruth.com/2012/05/01/merck-influence-doctor/
