About IFA
The Immunisation Foundation of Australia was established by the family of Riley Hughes, who have become vocal advocates of immunisation after the death of their son from whooping cough in 2015. Believing in the importance of parents and community-members standing up to support immunisation, the foundation’s mission is to inspire further community-based immunisation advocacy, helping to protect babies and families from vaccine-preventable diseases.
Vaccine preventable disease, other than COVID-19, took a back seat during the pandemic.
In this Matter of Vax series we explore diseases less talked about. We unpack five of the big, potentially devastating, vaccine preventable diseases that we all need to know more about: meningococcal, pneumococcal, HPV, influenza and shingles. Get the latest advice and learn more from some of the best experts on infectious diseases in Australia.
Join us as we #UniteAgainstRSV and welcome a new era of protection against this unpredictable and potentially dangerous virus.
Donate in someone's honour!
You can make a donation in a friend’s honour to help us raise awareness about vaccine-preventable diseases and run campaigns to improve vaccination rates.
Riley Hughes was born a gorgeous and healthy baby boy on February 13th, 2015.
He was our second child and we were so delighted to have him in our family.
At three weeks of age, he started displaying mild cold-like symptoms, and developed an occasional cough. We called out a doctor, who assured us he was fine.
Each year, the Australian Government invests over $400 million in the National Immunisation Program.
1 child dies every 20 seconds from vaccine preventable diseases.
Australia now also has world leading vaccination rates for children which are well above the global vaccination coverage of 85 per cent.
Immunisation can mean many things to many different people. Ultimately the definition of immunisation is the act of receiving a vaccine to stimulate the body’s own immune system to become immune to a particular disease.
As per the official Australian Department of Health website, there has been a 99 per cent decrease of deaths caused by vaccine-preventable disease since vaccinations were introduced to Australia in 1932.
Because of this intervention, the number of ‘active’ diseases has declined as has the number of fatalities.
How do vaccines work?
The basic idea behind a vaccine is to mimic a specific disease. Different vaccines protect against different diseases.
Diseases are caused by things called pathogens, and the immune system is designed to protect the body from getting sick because of these pathogens.
Beat The Bugs
The Immunisation Foundation of Australia, with support from the WA Department of Health Immunisation Program, is pleased to introduce the FREE “Beat The Bugs” puppet show! Find out more here.
If you have any queries or would like to contact our Foundation for any reason, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Thank you for your support.
We need your support in order to save lives.
Together, we can save lives and build a healthier community. Donations to the Immunisation Foundation of Australia are to support immunisation programs, including research and vaccination programs both in Australia and overseas.
Just like vaccines, superheroes help to protect the community. Who is your favourite superhero? It could be a doctor, firefighter, or Batman!
Show your commitment to help prevent the spread of vaccine preventable diseases by volunteering. Your gift of time will strengthen our lifesaving work.
Thank you for your support to help prevent the spread of vaccine preventable disease.
