
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 9, 1994                    TAG: 9406090757 
SECTION: FRONT                     PAGE: A1    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: BY LAURAN NEERGAARD, ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: 940609                                 LENGTH: WASHINGTON

U.S. TARGETS SIX CHILDHOOD DISEASES

{LEAD} The government announced an ambitious national vaccine plan today that calls for attacking six childhood diseases, providing personal reminders when it's time for children's shots and developing a series of new and improved vaccines.

The plan, seven years in the making, is a little behind schedule. Even as the government's National Vaccine Office was writing the 120-page guide, other agencies already were putting it into motion.

{REST} The only surprise in the report is the Clinton administration's hope that enough children will be vaccinated by 1996 - just 1 1/2 years after the start of the intensive immunization drive - to virtually eliminate the six childhood diseases in the United States.

Led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the government spent the last year beginning programs to immunize more children at no charge, educate parents, set up a national registry to notify parents when it's time for a child's shots and set priorities for developing new or improved vaccines.

by CNB