Vaccination in the News
- provax
- Mar 17, 2014
- 2 min read
Samantha White
Vaccination works for India!
According to reports, India accounted for over half of the world’ polio cases until 2009. India has now been without a case of polio since 13th January 2011, passing three years free of the disease and setting India to be declared polio free later this month, once the Work Health Organisation (WHO) has completed testing.
Polio is a crippling and sometime life-threatening disease seen mostly in children. The disease is caused by the Enterovirus known as poliovirus, which is transmitted through contaminated water and food and colonises the gastrointestinal tract (faecal-oral route). In about 1% of infections, the poliovirus spreads to and damages motor neurons within the spinal cord leading to flaccid paralysis, most commonly of the legs.
India, with a high population, overcrowding, poor sanitation, and poor health infrastructure, provides an environment that such a virus can thrive in. India has overcome these hurdles by collaborating with international organisations such as WHO, UNICEF and Rotary to immunise the nations children. A surveillance program was initiated, where data was used to assess and target areas of high risk, and the remote corners of the country. Public awareness methods such as education to dispel myths about vaccines, and gaining ambassadors for the eradication of polio assisted these organisations to achieve their goals. Due to India’s close proximity to Pakistan and Afghanistan where polio is still endemic, India risks being re-infected if vaccination efforts are not sustained. Public health planning and cooperation with the international organisations will help to ensure India remains polio free.
Fun facts:
The live attenuated, oral polio vaccine (OPV) was developed by Albert Sabin. It was licenced in 1962 and became the only polio vaccine used worldwide due to its easy administration, providing excellent immunity and low cost.
The World Health Assembly made the goal for global eradication of polio in 1988.
Informative video, by Indian news channel Aljazeera
Anti-vaccination group caught out!
The controversial anti-vaccination group was last week forced to change its name from "The Australian Vaccination Network", because it was considered misleading and did not clearly reflect its anti-vaccination stance. The network has changed its name to "The Australian Vaccination-skeptics Network" (note ‘sceptic’ is spelt incorrectly), hopefully ensuring the network is not mistaken for a government agency, and making it clear to the public their position against vaccination.
Now this week, The Australian Vaccination-skeptics Network has been requested to surrender its authority to fundraise under the Charitable Fundraising Act. The State government gathered expert medical advice challenging the accuracy of the information provided by the AVN, and claimed it to be promoting misinformation that could be detrimental to the Australian public. The network claims it was already in the process of de-registering as a charity before the state government asked it to revoke its right to fundraise.
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