Low trust in vaccines global crisis

The biggest global study into attitudes on immunisation suggests confidence is low in some regions. Experts warn Public mistrust of vaccines means the world is taking a step backwards in the fight against deadly yet preventable infectious diseases.The World Health Organization (WHO) lists vaccine hesitancy as one of the top 10 threats to global health. Medical Scientists said it's a numbers game... if some people are not vaccinated, it can cause a big problem for us all. The first Welcome Global Monitor survey, which canvassed attitudes among 1,40,000 people worldwide, shows clear links between people’s trust in doctors, nurses and scientists and their confidence in vaccines. It also shows that mistrust in government institutions goes hand in hand with doubts about vaccines’ safety. Only 59% of people in western Europe agree that vaccines are safe, while 95% of people in south Asia agree compared with 79% worldwide.Larson said social media had become an amplifier of doubt. “Social media is highly volatile. It has totally changed the landscape.” She said it was hard for scientists to combat the spread of misinformation because often it was not public. Much of it had shifted into private Facebook groups and other similarly inaccessible forums.Bangladesh and Rwanda have the highest confidence in vaccines in the world, the Global Monitor shows. Rwanda also has the highest trust in its healthcare, at 97%, against a global average of 76%.“In developing countries, where deadly diseases like diphtheria, measles or whooping cough are more common, I’ve seen mothers queue for hours to make sure their child is vaccinated,” said Seth Berkley, the chief executive of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.The Global Monitor found mixed feelings about science around the world. Half the world’s population said they knew little about science and 20% said they felt excluded from its benefits. Fifty-five per cent of people in France said they believed science and technology would lead to job losses in their area, as did 37% of people in the UK.