The biennial National Immunisation Conferences are the peak public health conferences in Australia with the prevention and control of vaccine preventable diseases through immunisation as their focus. Run by the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) for over 30 years.
In 2018 the Conference theme was ‘Immunisation for all: Gains, gaps and goals’.
The theme was established to reflect the importance of immunisation to prevent disease, disability and death in persons of all ages and from all backgrounds. Gains in this area include the increasing availability and effectiveness of vaccines for new diseases and for use from pregnancy - to protect the newborn infant- through to the very elderly. Equity in disease prevention that some vaccine programs are achieving, such as gender neutral HPV vaccination, as well as the recent establishment of the ‘whole of life’ Australian Immunisation Register and improvements in vaccine coverage in children are other recent accomplishments. Better understanding that the gaps in immunisation still exist, such as vaccination uptake by socially disadvantaged or medically at risk people, were the focus of this conference.