Arkansas health officials are mulling plans to establish a statewide adult immunization registry to allow the state Department of Health to track the immunization history of residents, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.
James Phillips -- the health department's branch chief of infectious disease -- said the agency would support legislation this year to expand the existing children's immunization registry into one that also includes residents ages 22 and older.
Phillips said the children's registry was enacted in 1995 and now has more than 2.9 million records on file.
Benefits of Database
Phillips said the widely used registry has helped officials determine the need for various statewide vaccination programs.
He noted that a registry that serves the broader state population would help health care providers during emergencies, particularly when individuals cannot remember if they already received certain vaccines or when they were administered.
If created, the registry would detail the type of vaccine an individual has received and when it was administered.
Health department spokesperson Ed Barham said the immunization registry is among the proposals being considered to recommend to Gov. Mike Beebe (D) for consideration during the upcoming legislative session.
Prospects for Legislation
Matt Decample -- a spokesperson for the governor -- said Beebe would prefer a registry that contains "thorough and accurate medical records for current and future treatment."
Barham said that legislation creating the registry would include confidentiality regulations and ensure that the information also would be protected under existing health privacy laws (Lesnick, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 8/10).