Childhood Vaccinations

Toronto, ON--The results of a recent Wyeth/Ipsos-Reid survey of Canadian parents of children under 5 indicate that Canadian parents clearly value childhood vaccinations. A majority of parents of children under 5 consider immunizations as important as healthy foods, physical activity and washing hands are to their children's health. Parents are very concerned about vaccine-preventable diseases - considering many of them very serious conditions and ones that their children are likely to contract if not immunized against them. The result is that, for the most part, parents are ensuring their children get the standard vaccinations.

The vast majority of parents feel that all vaccines should be covered in all provinces, although currently vaccine coverage for some diseases, such as meningitis, varies from province to province. Parents agree that all children should receive all of the recommended vaccinations and that governments should fund all vaccines. Most also agree that by vaccinating children we are preventing illnesses and therefore easing the burden on hospitals and other healthcare services. And while the vast majority of parents would pay out of pocket for a vaccination to protect their children, one-quarter indicate that if the government does not pay for a vaccine, they would consider it less of a priority for their children.

The survey also highlights a lack of awareness among parents of children under 5 of which vaccinations are covered in each province.

This document summarizes the findings the largest ever survey of Canadian parents of children under the age of 5 about their attitudes toward childhood vaccinations. All data for this research were collected by Ipsos-Reid via 20-minute telephone interviews with parents of children under the age of 5. The research was sponsored by Wyeth Canada. A total of 1,001 parents were interviewed between May 19th and May 26th, 2004. The overall results are considered accurate to within 1773.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The margin of error will be larger for subgroups or regional breakdowns of the data. Respondents sample was drawn from Ipsos-Reid's national panel which pre-identified respondents as having children in the target age range. Final data were weighted to reflect the population of parents of children under the age of 5 according to the latest Census figures.

Please oepn the attached PDF files to view the complete factum including charts, and detailed tables.

-30-

For more information on this news release, please contact:
Natalie Lacey
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900