The new secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Tom Ford, MD, declined to endorse a universal vaccination policy for mumps, measles, and similar infectious diseases and instead wants states to decide their own vaccination requirements, according to a town hall interview broadcast on CNN and reported by Medpage Today.

When asked a question by CNN moderator Wolf Blitzer about whether he believed immunizations for mumps measles and other disease should be required, Price answered:

“I believe it’s a perfectly appropriate role… for government — this happens by and large at the state government level, because they’re the ones that have public health responsibility — to determine whether or not immunizations are required for a community population, whether it’s growing kids or the like, or, if it’s an outbreak of a particular infectious disease, whether immunization ought to be required or be able to be utilized,” Price told CNN.

Read more at www.medpagetoday.com