Sunday, September 9, 2001

For more information, contact: Jen Waller, Communications Assistant 859-288-6154 or http://gov.state.ky.us/sga/index.htm

MISSISSIPPI JOINS SOUTHERN IMMUNIZATION REGISTRY PROJECT

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Governor Ronnie Musgrove of Mississippi announced today that his state would enter into a cutting-edge effort to securely share child immunization records across state lines to improve and speed access to critical health information.

"This is just one more way that government can quickly and responsibly provide better service to our citizens, particularly by giving health care professionals the same access to immunization data that we give doctors in our own state," said Governor Musgrove.

The Immunization Registry Project, coordinated by the Southern Governors' Association, was originally launched in 1999 after the SGA Task Force on Medical Technology (TFMT) recommended that states find ways to securely share immunization data across state lines to speed access and bolster immunization rates. Then-Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. of North Carolina and Governor Don Sundquist of Tennessee signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop a process to securely share child immunization records between those two states. A report presented at the February 2000 SGA winter meeting, announcing a series of agreements reached by both states on sharing immunization data, including the establishment of operational guidelines to ensure the efficient and secure sharing of the information.

Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas signed onto the MOU in November 2000. Including Mississippi, four states are now committed to participating in the project. The initiative was lauded earlier this year by a national immunization advocacy organization, Every Child By Two, as a "ground-breaking accomplishment that we plan to promote across the country in hopes of attaining cooperation from every state."

Founded in 1934, the Southern Governors' Association is the oldest and historically largest of the regional governors' associations. The mission of SGA is to support the work of the governors by providing a bipartisan, regional forum to help shape and implement national policy and to solve state and regional problems. The association's membership is composed of the governors of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia and West Virginia.