People who claim vaccines are unsafe and profit from it should be face criminal charges, says renowned AIDS specialist, Dr. Mark Wainberg of McGill University. He finds debate over the safety of immunization “outrageous” and says it undermines public health.
Measles cases rekindle debate
Canada and the U.S. have recently had cases of measles break out among people who refuse to have their children vaccinated for religious reasons or because they think they are not safe. This is in spite of multiple studies and overwhelming scientific evidence that they vaccines are safe and effective.
A reporter with the public broadcaster, CBC, has recorded homeopaths and naturopaths suggesting to clients that vaccines are not safe and that instead they should use homeopathic or natural preparations. Scientific studies show these homeopathic “nosodes” do not protect against disease, and people who rely on them instead of traditional vaccines are leaving their children vulnerable.
Free speech has limits
“It’s crazy to even think that vaccination is not valid,” says Wainberg. He asserts that even in a democracy like Canada where there are constitutional guarantees to free speech, there are limits. He gives the example of a U.S. Supreme Court justice who ruled a person cannot falsely yell “fire” in a crowded theatre and cause a deadly stampede. Nor would society tolerate someone standing outside a school fence trying to sell cigarettes.
“I’m saying we should have an enactment of a law that allows people to be brought up (in court) on criminal charges and if someone is found guilty of wilfully advocating that vaccination is harmful perhaps because they’re going to make some money out of this, that should be a criminal offense. And, if convicted, they should pay the legal consequences including prison time,” says Wainberg.
ListenAIDS denials caused many deaths
There needs to be a strong deterrent to such situations, he says. He compares the situation to the AIDS epidemic where, in the past, the president of South Africa refused to believe that HIV causes AIDS and refused to approve the use of anti-retroviral drugs. As a result, many people died and many more continued to spread the disease.
Public health ‘undermined’
“There are too many examples now of how we have allowed public health to be undermined because we’re not insisting on good public health, especially when it comes to our vaccination programs,” says Wainberg.
Canada’s minister of health has recently urged parents to have their children vaccinated against common diseases. All the provinces and territories offer free vaccinations for protection against about a dozen illnesses. Two provinces do not allow children to attend school unless they have been immunized.
Regardless, there are Canadians with varying levels of income and education who still refuse to vaccinate their children, much to the alarm of doctors and public health officials.
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