Basic Childhood Vaccinations Becoming Less Accessible, More Precarious in US

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I have found that basic health care is more accessible in Brazil than in the United States.

The New York Times reports today that the process in the United States for getting basic vaccines against deadly childhood diseases is becoming more and more expensive and precarious.

Getting a vaccination was not always so difficult. In 1980, it cost only about $23, or $59 adjusted for inflation, for the seven shots and four oral doses needed to immunize a child, according to data provided by Thomas Saari, who is emeritus professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin.

Today, though, a child who receives all the recommended vaccines would receive as many as 37 shots and 3 oral doses by the 18th birthday — at a cost exceeding $1,600. NYT

Before I moved to Brazil in 2004, I contacted public and private clinics in New Jersey, looking for the basic vaccines that were recommended before my travel. It would have cost me $800 dollars or more to receive these vaccinations in the United States. Since I didn't have that much money and I was not covered by any insurance, I decided to go to Brazil without first receiving this basic and easily administered medical care.

When I got to Brazil, I discovered that all of the medications that I needed but could not afford in the United States are available for free at all Brazilian government health clinics, even for visitors from the United States. In fact, there is a hospital a block from my house that provides all medical care for free. So I have more access to health care in Brazil than I did in the United States.

A couple of weeks ago, my Brazilian wife informed me that the government was recommending that everyone in our state receive shots for malaria. The first time we went to the clinic, the supplies had been exhausted. The following week, I, my wife and two children went to the government clinic and we all got our shots for free, with no lines or additional waiting. The government of Brazil cares for my medical health more than my own government does.

I have also discovered that the same anti-depressant drugs that cost $200.00 USD per month in the United States may cost $40.00 USD per month at regular Brazilian pharmacies and only twenty dollars per month at Brazil's government run pharmacies. But at certain Brazilian government pharmacies, many basic medications are available at no charge whatsoever, to anyone who has a prescription, while supplies last.

I hope someday that the United States will have a public health system that is as accessible to the public as Brazil's health care system is now. In the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries, I'm absolutely going to vote for a presidential candidate who has a long-standing and proven dedication to seeing that we in the United States have care that is at least as accessible and affordable as the care now available to people in so-called "Third World" countries like my new home, in Brazil.

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