In October, reminders to schedule mammograms are everywhere, from doctors’ offices to social media feeds. Breast Cancer Awareness Month rests on a simple idea: Prevention works when people can easily get it. The same principle applies to vaccines.
In Delaware, routine shots are easy to find. Parents get their children immunized at regular checkups, and adults can stop by pharmacies in Dover or Rehoboth Beach for flu shots. That kind of access did not happen by accident. Candidates on this November’s ballot should commit to keeping it in place, with no new costs or barriers for families. Keeping it in place also means looking beyond the next few years. Most Favored Nation pricing would base U.S. drug prices on what foreign governments allow. The hit to research revenue would land hard on vaccine development, which already takes years and fails often. Some of the most promising work underway involves vaccines that could train the immune system to fight cancer, including breast cancer. Those projects need investors willing to take long odds, and MFN would give them fewer reasons to.
Access today and discovery tomorrow are not competing goals. Both come from the same commitment to public health, and that commitment should guide every vote cast this fall.
Tim Maxey
Middletown
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
