Critics of Vaccination Programmes

"The greatest threat of childhood diseases lies in the dangerous and ineffectual efforts made to prevent them through mass immunization. There is no convincing scientific evidence that mass inoculations can be credited with eliminating any childhood disease…. There are 'significant risks' associated with every immunization and numerous contraindications that make it dangerous for the shots to be given to your child…" (Mendelsohn 1984)

Incidents of and deaths from infectious diseases had dramatically reduced before the introduction of vaccinations, because of improvements in living conditions. The proponents of vaccination argue introduction of immunisation resulted in a further and more rapid decline in disease incidents and deaths than would have occurred through public health measures alone. The introduction of the Hib vaccine to the UK in 1992 provides a powerful example of the effect of immunisation programme can have where there is no noticeable improvement in living conditions. Within one year of the vaccination being introduced, there was an 80% decline in Hib meningitis and septicaemia in 1991(Elliman 1998).

What is not clear is the effect vaccinations have on health. This can only be demonstrated by comparing disease rates amongst immunised and un-immunised groups, as yet no one is willing to fund this type of research even though there is much research linking the massive rise in autoimmune disease with vaccinations and their effect on the immune system. What are the long-term consequences of injecting foreign proteins into the bodies of young children? Meikle (2000) reported that the Chief Medical Officer, Liam Donaldson, had recalled polio vaccines because the pharmaceutical company, Medeva, had ignored guidelines, which had been in place since 1989, which banned the use of bovine material from BSE affected countries in vaccines and continued to sell an estimated 35 million doses.

Few measures in public health can compare with the cost effectiveness of vaccines. Direct medical savings for each dollar spent is up to 90% on normal childhood diseases. When indirect savings are also measured, which includes prevention of work loss by parents to take care of sick children and lost earnings from disability, saving as much as $29 for every dollar spent. (Orenstein,1997). Mandatory vaccination programmes were introduced in the US in the 1960's, persuasion became obligation as vaccinations were made compulsory in the United States. Unvaccinated children are not allowed to attend school in many states in the US.

Effective compliance was reported by Conway (1999) who concluded that children admitted to hospital provide opportunities to check their vaccination status and vaccinate while they are there. Socialisation turns the individual into a member of society individuals are free to make choices about their healthcare but they can have strong influences put on them to compel them to act in a certain way.

During a measles epidemic in 1959 (51000 cases), the British Medical Journal reported that measles was the commonest disease in the world and normally a mild infection. Now we are warned that children are in danger from the disease. Either this claim is not true or in recent years, as hypothesised by Vithoulkas in1991, children's immune systems have been compromised by chemicals such as Calpol, excessive use of antibiotics, inhalers, and the increasing number of vaccinations being given. Asthma has doubled since the measles vaccine was introduced. Reasons given: homes are too clean, pollution, pesticides, additives in food, etc.

Asthma is less common in developing countries. In Cuba, where few of the so-called predisposing factors apply (the US blockade), asthma levels are high 12% (MacDonald1998). What makes Cuba unique as a poor country is its excellent health service; it also vaccinates all their children.

A recent British study published in the medical journal Thorax concluded that people who had measles as children were less likely to develop asthma. A study by Kemp et al (1997) on 1265 immunised children showed that 23.1% had asthma episodes. The children who had not been vaccinated in the study had no incidence of asthma or any allergies. A study by Odent (1994) found that among 243 immunised children 26 were diagnosed as having asthma, in contrast to 91children who had not been vaccinated, only one of whom had asthma.

It was reported in an editorial of the Lancet (2000) that conclusions drawn by Andrew Wakefield at the Royal Free Hospital, linking the MMR vaccines with high incidence of Crohns disease and Autism, had been rejected by a report of the sub-group of the British Medical Research Council and many other researchers. Yet according to Templeton (2000) a report published in the Journal of Adverse Drug Reactions states that senior clinicians, including a former medicine regulator at the Department of Health, believe that the MMR vaccine should not have been licensed in 1988 because there was insufficient evidence of its safety and the decision to license it was premature.

Parents see adverts in newspapers and on TV championing the cause of vaccinations. A TV advert a baby lying on the edge of a cliff, another laying by the roadside another in the den of a tiger and society is asked: would you leave your child in mortal danger? Manufacturers sponsor this publicity and see them as one of the unquestioned successes of modern medicine. Consensus is that childhood vaccinations confer major health benefits at minor cost. These campaigns are hard to resist, vaccinations have for decades been in the vanguard of medical progress. The consumer of health care may prefer to pass the burden of decision making to their doctor, "the expert". It is therefore important that ethical codes are linked to the assurance that, given the role of supplier, the doctor's conduct is determined by medical rather than economic objectives (McGuire et al.1995). There is an obvious potential for exploitation here, particularly if financial incentives are given, which brings about a level of consumption different from which would have occurred were the consumer fully informed and was able to choose freely. Fraser (2000) reported on the practice of not registering unvaccinated children with GPs to enable the practice to maintain Government targets of 90%, which pay £2,685 as opposed to only £895 if only 70% of registered children are vaccinated.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US reports 112,699 total vaccine adverse reactions on the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS. Maguire et al (1991) reported that because of a voluntary reporting scheme in the UK adverse effects are not always reported. The US federal government has paid out over 1bn dollars to vaccine damaged children.