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One of the most important insights of the European Commission-hosted Vaccination Summit came from Ethan Lindenberger, an 18-year old high school student who decided to get himself vaccinated after his mother chose not to vaccinate him. He spoke passionately about the need to build bridges and recognize that, “People who believe vaccine misinformation are not bad people… let’s not demonise them and build a wall, but rather extend a hand and build the bridges.” – HL.
“First Global Vaccination Summit sounds the alarm on access and hesitancy” (Article published in DevEX)
BRUSSELS — Politicians, policymakers, and pro-vaccine campaigners met Thursday at the first Global Vaccination Summit to raise the alarm about the resurgence of measles, share plans to tackle misinformation in the age of social media, and reiterate the need to reach the 19.4 million infants worldwide who missed routine immunization last year.
“It is inexcusable that in a world as developed as ours, there are still children dying of diseases that should have been eradicated long ago. Worse, we have the solution in our hands but it is not being put to full use,” said Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission. “Vaccination already prevents 2-3 million deaths a year and could prevent a further 1.5 million if global vaccination coverage improved.”…Read full article here
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Commission joined forces to tackle the issue at the first global vaccination summit. Although many of them live in developing countries with poor access to vaccines, scientists are worried that anti-vaccination campaigners in the developed world are spreading misinformation on social media. So what’s the cure for their scepticism?
Emilie Karafillakis, research fellow for the Vaccine Confidence Project, speaks to France 24 about the rising anti-vaccination sentiment that is rising throughout Europe, especially in France where a recent study revealed 1 in 3 citizens believe vaccines are unsafe.
In this episode of Take as Directed, J. Stephen Morrison speaks with Dr. Heidi Larson on why vaccine confidence is currently in crisis, and how this has fueled outbreaks such as measles and the persistence of polio in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
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