Oct. 15, 2015
Seven
communities across Texas are receiving disease-preventing and potentially life-saving
vaccinations, thanks to Texas Medical Association’s (TMA’s) Be Wise —ImmunizeSM Local
Impact Grants program. The program awarded grants totaling more than $10,000 to
physicians, medical students, and TMA Alliance (TMAA) chapters (comprising
physicians and physicians’ spouses), to provide free and low-cost vaccinations
to uninsured and underinsured Texans.
TMA
created the Be Wise — Immunize Local Impact
Grants program
in 2012 to allow TMA and TMAA members to meet local vaccination needs to keep
their communities healthier. The TMA Family members often partner with other
local organizations on the projects.
Since
2012, TMA has awarded 46 grants totaling $88,000 to provide nearly 5,000
vaccinations across the state through the Local Impact Grants program. Be Wise
— Immunize and the Local Impact Grants are funded by the TMA Foundation (TMAF), TMA’s
philanthropic arm.
“TMA
Foundation and its donors are proud to support these efforts because
immunizations prevent serious diseases and help Texans live healthier lives,”
said TMAF President Deborah A. Fuller, MD, a Dallas physician.
Here are the recently-awarded TMA grants, ranging from
$500 to $2,500:
- Lamia Kadir, MD, of Austin will provide free flu shots to
100 underserved children and adults at HopeFest, a local community festival, in
Austin on Saturday.
- Paris-Lamar County
Health District, along with Lamar-Delta County Medical Society (CMS), will give low-cost flu shots ($5 each) to local adults at a
drive-through clinic at the First Federal Community Bank in Paris on
Oct. 24.
- Students Improving Global Health in Texas chapter at The University of
Texas Medical School at Houston (UTHealth) will give adults and children
in Brownsville free flu vaccinations
at the Frontera de Salud Health Fair on Oct. 24. The vaccination event is part of a UTHealth
mobile health outreach project.
- South Plains
Immunization Network, along with Lubbock-Crosby-Garza CMS Alliance will provide free flu vaccinations to low-income
adults in Lubbock this fall.
- TMA Alliance member Libby Malone of Austin and the Junior League of Austin will offer free flu vaccinations to Austin-area children at the
League’s 29th annual Coats for Kids event in December.
- James Mobley, MD, of Portland, and Medical Arts Clinic provided free pertussis (whooping
cough) and pneumonia vaccinations to adults at a local health fair in Portland
in August.
- Drs. Leksmi Nair and Hema Salvady, of Manvel, along with Love to Share Foundation America gave free flu and shingles
vaccinations to adults at an annual health fair in Brazoria County in
September.
TMA
actively works to reduce vaccine-preventable diseases and to promote the
importance, safety, and effectiveness of vaccines through Be Wise — Immunize. The
program combines vaccination education with hands-on shot clinics. Nearly 300,000
shots have been given to Texas children, adolescents, and adults since the
program began in 2004. TMAF funds the Be Wise program through generous support
from H-E-B and TMF Health Quality Institute, Permian Basin Youth Chavarim, and gifts from
physicians and their families.
TMA is the largest state medical society
in the nation, representing more than 48,000 physician and medical student
members. It is located in Austin and has 110 component county medical societies
around the state. TMA’s key objective since 1853 is to improve the health of
all Texans. TMA Foundation raises funds to support the public health and
science priority initiatives of TMA and the family of medicine.
Be
Wise — Immunize is a service mark of the Texas Medical Association.
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Contact: Brent
Annear (512) 370-1381; cell: (512) 656-7320; email: brent.annear[at]texmed[dot]org
Marcus
Cooper (512) 370-1382; cell: (512) 650-5336; email: marcus.cooper[at]texmed[dot]org
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