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Vaccine Safety Net

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March 13, 2017

What is the issue?                        

  • Only about 50% of children between nine months and 15 years in the State were vaccinated at the end of the measles-rubella vaccination campaign period due to the rumours about the safety of vaccines.
  • The campaign had to be extended for 15 days to cover over 95% of the target population.

What is the need for a Vaccine Safety Net site?

  • The slip in vaccination coverage due to rumour-mongering is unprecedented for the State.
  • But the misleading information about vaccine safety has been a menace across the world for many years now.
  • Measles outbreaks in the U.K. in 2008 and 2009 and small measles outbreaks in the U.S. and Canada have been attributed to the non-vaccination of children as a result of unfounded fears.
  • Chances are that many people inadvertently land on websites that contain wrong and alarmingly misleading information.
  • Therefore the WHO launched the Vaccine Safety Net to provide doctors, parents and others access to “accurate and trustworthy information about vaccines.”

What is Vaccine Safety Net?

  • It was launched in 2003.
  • It is a global network of vaccine safety websites, evaluated by the WHO.
  • It has 47 member websites in 12 languages.
  • Websites are subjected to severe vetting by the Vaccine Safety Net before being approved to become a member.
  • Websites are required to contain correct, unbiased information about vaccine safety and have no links with the industry to become a member.
  • The Indian Academy of Paediatrics’ Advisory Committee on Vaccines and Immunisation Practices (ACVIP) is one of the members of the network.
  • U.S. President Donald Trump has raised the accusations of the vaccine-induced autism through several tweets.
  • The Institute for Vaccine Safety, which is a member of network, posted an article last month explaining why vaccines do not cause autism.
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