World Health Organisation accidentally endorses anti-vaxx website
‘Check your support, they are anti-vaxx' global organisation told
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Your support makes all the difference.The World Health Organisation (WHO) has accidentally endorsed an anti-vaccination group.
The body said it was “supporting the Vaccine Information Network (Vine)”, in a Facebook post which also discussed the benefits of inoculation.
“We can stop measles. Measles is preventable through two doses of a safe and effective vaccine,” the post read.
The site’s users were quick to point out that the group promoted anti-vaccination conspiracy theories.
“Check your support,” wrote one commenter. “They are anti-vaxx.”
Vine hosts a range of adverts from groups, including some saying the “modern medical system is essentially mafia-controlled” and others accusing officials of “scientific fraud”.
The WHO’s Facebook post was later amended.
“Vaccine rejection is a serious and growing public health timebomb,” Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, has previously said.
Mr Stevens has said he believes social-media firms should take a zero-tolerance approach towards “dangerous and inaccurate scare stories.”
Anti-vaccination groups have been blamed for some British parents refusing to allow their children be inoculated against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR).
Children need two doses of the combined vaccination to be protected against MMR and the NHS recommends that both doses are administered before a child starts school.
The WHO has said that 95% of children in the UK should be vaccinated for herd immunity to be achieved but uptake of the second dose is only at 88%.
Outbreaks of measles have risen in the UK in recent years.
In 2017 there were 259 cases diagnosed in England. By 2019 the number of cases had risen to 966.
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, has said he “wouldn’t rule out anything” when asked if unvaccinated children should be banned from schools.
The MP has also said that people promoting anti-vaccination myths “are morally reprehensible, deeply irresponsible and have blood on their hands.”
Additional reporting by agencies
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