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Dr. Eden Wells, chief medical executive of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, speaks at a press conference in Lansing Monday, March 20, 2017. Wells announced the creation of a public health education campaign encouraging Michigan parents to vaccinate their children.

(Lauren Gibbons | MLive)

The state's health agency has partnered with several public and private organizations in the hopes of bringing up vaccination rates among children and adolescents in Michigan.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced a campaign Monday dubbed "I Vaccinate," which includes a website, social media and television public service ads encouraging parents with questions about vaccines to seek out more information.

The goal of the program is to raise awareness and eventually bring up vaccination rates among vulnerable populations, said Eden Wells, the chief medical executive of the Department of Health and Human Services.

"Michigan's low immunization rates threaten the health of all residents," she said. "Both here and nationally, we're seeing the unfortunate return of vaccine-preventable diseases because some parents are choosing not to vaccinate based on misinformation."

According to the 2015 National Immunization Survey, Michigan ranks 43rd in the U.S. for children ages 19 to 35 months, and data from the Michigan Care Improvement Registry shows 54 percent of children ages 19 to 35 months and 29 percent of teens aged 13 to 18 are fully up to date on vaccinations.

Officials also cited a series of 2016 chickenpox outbreaks in schools and child care centers in Michigan and a rise in whooping cough cases in Michigan in recent years as another big reason to address vaccinations.

All 50 states in the U.S. offer medical exemptions to vaccination, and nearly all states offer an exemption for religious reasons as well. Michigan is one of 18 states that still allow a philosophical exemption, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, but a rule change implemented in January 2015 had dropped the number of Michigan schoolchildren waiving vaccines by more than a third as of January 2016.

Michigan children entering kindergarten must show proof of immunization for measles, pertussis, polio, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B, chicken pox, diphtheria and tetanus, unless a parent signs a waiver.

The issue of child vaccination has been the cause of much debate in recent years, with some parents questioning the need and safety of vaccinating children. Medical experts throughout the country have defended the need for vaccinations, saying high vaccination rates are critical to preventing epidemics of highly contagious diseases such as whooping cough and measles.

Wells said she sees people who are against vaccinating their children as only one part of the issue of low vaccination rates. Other areas Wells said could factor into the issue are parents not being fully aware of when to bring their child in, lack of followup from physicians or a basic lack of access to healthcare.

"The 'I Vaccinate' program might help get in between some of these multiple barriers that I see may be active across the whole state," she said, adding that the department will closely watch data regarding vaccinations and communicable diseases in Michigan to determine the effectiveness of the campaign.

One of the major partners with the state on the program is the Franny Strong Foundation, an organization founded by Oakland County residents Veronica and Sean McNally after their daughter, Francesca, died of whooping cough in 2012.

The foundation is focused on providing information to parents regarding vaccinations with the end goal of boosting childhood immunization rates.