The controversy surrounding the possible adverse effects of vaccines given to children has been raging for decades. The vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) has caused the most controversy with anti-vaxxers claiming that the MMR vaccine increases the risk of autism and other severe health disorders.
The proliferation of social media seems to have been effective in scaring more parents from having their children vaccinated as a scaremongering campaign became more widespread.
This year has seen an alarming increase in the number of children contracting measles in different parts of the world. Many countries are now considering making the vaccination of children mandatory if they want to attend schools.
Vaccination against measles and mumps in Malta is not mandatory. However, the Superintendent of Public Health, Charmaine Gauci, urges all people born after 1970 to get vaccinated with MMR. Walter Ricciardi, the president-elect of the World Federation of Public Health, agrees with this advice. He calls for clear and simple messages to be conveyed to the public, in particular about the safety of vaccines and the risks of not being protected against some serious diseases.
The World Health Organisation named vaccine hesitancy, the reluctance or refusal to vaccinate despite available vaccines, among the top 10 global health threats for 2019. It joins pollution and climate change, the worldwide influenza pandemic, weak primary healthcare and HIV in the listing, among others.
It is scientifically proven that vaccination is one of the most cost-effective ways of avoiding disease. The WHO maintains that between two million and three million deaths a year are prevented through vaccination. Some 1.5 million more deaths could be avoided if the rate of vaccinations increased worldwide.
One must not blame parents for researching the possible side effects of vaccinations before they decide whether to inoculate their children. However, the overwhelming scientific evidence that MMR vaccinations are the best option to prevent serious diseases should never be ignored simply because the rhetoric of anti-vaxxers sounds convincing.
Scientific studies held over the years have confirmed, for instance, that there is no proven link between MMR vaccination and an increased risk of autism. The latest research, involving more than 600,000 Danish children, concluded that MMR vaccination does not increase the risk of autism, does not trigger autism among susceptible children and is not associated with clustering of autism cases after vaccination.
Countries like Italy, France, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands are introducing mandatory vaccination for access to kindergarten and primary schools. While anti-vaxxers account to not more than three per cent of the population, their negative influence poses a public health risk that cannot be ignored by the health authorities.
If educational campaigns fail to ensure that the vast majority of parents follow the scientifically-backed advice of the WHO to have children vaccinated for MMR, then it may be time to legislate. The Maltese Paediatric Association has just urged the Health Minister to ensure new legislation is urgently passed laying down that parents and custodians of all children in Malta are be bound by law to vaccinate them.
It also asked the Education Minister to ensure children are not allowed into any childcare centre, nurseries and schools unless they had been vaccinated.
Making vaccination a condition for entering school is a sensible approach to minimise preventable diseases among children.
This is a Times of Malta print editorial