The World Health Organisation – a service primarily responsible for monitoring and tackling diseases – has listed anti-vaccination as a major threat. The organisation recently released their list of ‘ten threats to global health in 2019’, which evaluates current health risks. Among these threats are high threat viruses such as ebola, and pollution, which have the capability to kill thousands every year. Anti-vaccination remains a strong concern as it allows already treatable diseases to wreak havoc across the globe, which could lead to deaths which would have been otherwise preventable.
The anti-vaccination ‘movement’ encompasses a group of people who refuse to vaccinate their children and themselves based on discredited evidence from a former doctor.
The original study was conducted by disgraced doctor Andrew Wakefield – who has since had his license revoked – and published in medical journal The Lancet.
He claimed a link was visible between the MMR Vaccine and developmental disorder autism, whipping people into a frenzy and causing many to doubt vaccination.
Since the 1998 study’s publication, there have been countless other investigations revealing there is no link between them and proving the study wrong.
READ MORE: Congo see Ebola and CHOLERA outbreak
However, some people still oppose vaccinations, and this is allowing diseases to wreak havoc in Europe.
WHO has monitored the way potentially deadly diseases have been spreading as people reject vaccines.
They said: “Vaccination is one of the most cost-effective ways of avoiding disease – it currently prevents 2-3 million deaths a year, and a further 1.5 million could be avoided if global coverage of vaccinations improved.
“Measles, for example, has seen a 30% increase in cases globally.
“The reasons for this rise are complex, and not all of these cases are due to vaccine hesitancy.”
READ MORE: New York sees largest measles outbreak in HISTORY
WHO’s analysis has found there were certain diseases on the verge of extinction which are now resurging due to this hesitancy.
They said: “The reasons why people choose not to vaccinate are complex; a vaccines advisory group to WHO identified complacency, inconvenience in accessing vaccines, and lack of confidence are key reasons underlying hesitancy.
“Health workers, especially those in communities, remain the most trusted advisor and influencer of vaccination decisions, and they must be supported to provide trusted, credible information on vaccines.
“In 2019, WHO will ramp up work to eliminate cervical cancer worldwide by increasing coverage of the HPV vaccine, among other interventions.”
READ MORE: Disease hotspots of the World MAPPED
The NHS has urged people to get the MMR vaccine, especially since the UK and rest of Europe undergoes increased cases of measles.
Measles, mumps and rubella are all highly infectious, and can come with potentially fatal complications.
Vaccines are important for building up ‘herd immunity’ where a large portion of the country is vaccinated, providing indirect protection to those who cannot be vaccinated due to increased vulnerability.
The kind of immunisation will also result in eradicating certain nasty diseases, as smallpox has been before since the vaccine was pioneered by Edward Jenner.