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.
