From an insightful BBC News commentary by pediatrician Adam Finn:
More broadly, the principle upon which immunisation is based - namely, exposure to a non-harmful version of the naturally occurring infection in order to induce a natural and protective immune response - can be seen to be a far more natural process than the drug- and surgery-based therapies most widely venerated as the main achievements of modern medicine.
Read the entire article.
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — A widespread scare about vaccine side effects in Ukraine has led to a sharp drop in immunizations that could result in disease outbreaks spreading beyond the former Soviet republic, international and local health officials say.
Hundreds of thousands of fearful Ukrainians have refused vaccines for diseases such as diphtheria, mumps, polio, hepatitis B, tuberculosis, whooping cough and others this year, according to official estimates. Authorities have canceled a U.N.-backed measles and rubella vaccination campaign funded by U.S. philanthropist Ted Turner, and will have to collect and incinerate nearly 9 million unused doses in coming months.
“I never thought I’d see the day where perfectly good vaccines are being destroyed,” said Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesman for UNICEF.
Around the world, health officials say they are struggling with the repercussions of vaccine fears they call unwarranted and dangerous.
Read the rest of this account at MSNBC.
More information is available from UNICEF.
