The World Health Organisation has identified "vaccine hesitancy" as a top ten global health threat in 2019. Vaccination uptake rates are declining in many countries, particularly for the MMR vaccine. As a result, measles outbreaks are on the rise. A serious outbreak in New York State has led to strict controls on potentially infected children entering public places and fines for parents refusing to vaccinate. Preliminary World Health Organisation data indicates that measles infections are up three-fold in 2019 compared to a similar period last year.
Among the voices speaking against this threat are head of the European Medicines Agency, Guido Rasi and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock. He has called for social media platforms to do more to stop anti-vaccination messages getting traction on social media.
For more information on the anti-vaccine movement, head over to our sister blog, life science law.