General Discussion
Showing Original Post only (View all)Can you put down your pitchfork long enough to discuss the root causes of the anti-vax problem? [View all]
As a culture are we able to stop attacking the anti-vax crowd long enough to dig below the surface?
I'll warn you - such retrospection requires rational logic, a bit of empathy, historical perspective and most importantly, you need to put down your pitch fork for a minute. And there are potentially some inconvenient truths lurking, so you must be brave.
(Yeah, I know. It's fun waving that thing around in a primal anger sort of way, playing war hero against an existential anti-vax army.)
How did we get here?
It wasn't easy, that's for sure. It took arrogance, recklessness, fraud, and corruption and an unwillingness to invest in the checks and balances to maintain public trust.
1. PhRMA is responsible for their relentless pursuit of profit at any cost to human health. This erodes trust.
2. The government is responsible for failing to objectively regulate PhRMA due to the massive financial contributions PhRMA makes to election campaigns. People see how drug money is interfering with science and public health outcomes. We have the most expensive and inefficient health care system in the world, based on dollar input per positive output. We make a few people rich at the expense of public health. This erodes trust.
3. Recent cases of drug fraud and drug failures resulting in thousands of deaths and millions of injuries. Drugs remained on the market long long after evidence should have been used to pull them off the market.
http://prescriptiondrugs.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=005528
4. The India Generic Drug Scandal - Bone chilling account of cost cutting measures gone bad.
http://fortune.com/2013/05/15/dirty-medicine/
5. Bill Gates and HPV Vaccine Testing on the Poor in India
The committee found that consent for conducting these studies, in many cases, was taken from the hostel wardens, which was a flagrant violation of norms. In many other cases, thumbprint impressions of their poor and illiterate parents were duly affixed onto the consent form. The children also had no idea about the nature of the disease or the vaccine. The authorities concerned could not furnish requisite consent forms for the vaccinated children in a huge number of cases.
The committee said it was "deeply shocked to find that in Andhra Pradesh out of the 9,543 [consent] forms, 1,948 forms have thumb impressions while hostel wardens have signed 2,763 forms. In Gujarat, out of the 6,217 forms 3,944 have thumb impressions and 5,454 either signed or carried thumb impressions of guardians. The data revealed that a very large number of parents or guardians are illiterate and could not even write in their local languages, Telugu or Gujarati."
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-08-31/news/53413161_1_hpv-vaccine-cervarix-human-papilloma-virus
6. We are over-medicated. However, I believe, people are confusing use of vaccines with over use of antibiotics causing anti-bacterial resistance.
7. We are exposed to too many chemicals in our daily lives. And every one who has a vested financial interest in them claims they are perfectly safe. From hormone enriched meats and produce to volatile organic compounds, pesticides and herbicides in our water supply and food chain. All perfectly safe, no?
8. It was really, really stupid to leave mercury as a preservative in vaccines for so long. Everyone knows mercury is bad shit. Doesn't matter how loudly you exclaim it's perfectly safe, people remember mercury poisoning in Japan and the heartbreaking photos. My understanding is that mercury is now only used in flu shot, and the amounts of mercury used are lower than they were in the past. However, research into safer alternatives should be funded. As long as mercury is in the shot, people are going to freak out. Then there are amalgam dental filings, but I digress...
9. The Tuskegee syphilis experiment (/tʌsˈkiːɡiː/)[1] was an infamous clinical study conducted between 1932 and 1972 by the U.S. Public Health Service to study the natural progression of untreated syphilis in rural African American men who thought they were receiving free health care from the U.S. government.[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_syphilis_experiment
10. Arrogance. We don't see polio nor measles. A false sense of superiority attributed to "good living" is being confused with years of devotion to disease eradication via a very socialized medicine called vaccination. Vaccination requires a shared sacrifice. Too many people believe they are better than this. Finally, there is the arrogance of a people yelling at each other without really understanding the basis for fear, nor the recklessness of blind obedience.
Add it all up and perhaps it starts to make sense.
I've already been called a woo woo with blood on my hands killing people for daring to discuss this topic.
From this I assert we need a vaccine to prevent arrogance and stupidity more than any other disease.
We cannot begin to fix the problem without understanding the problem.
On edit - I have more than my share of vaccines. I will wager far more than those who will attack me on this thread. I took them because of frequent travel in Asia. All up to date.
And I really don't give a shit what you call me. i know I am doing the right thing by discussing this.
We created the problems. Now we have to deal with the consequences.
If you want vaccination more widespread, then that has to start with trust between Government and PhARMA. Better checks and balances need to be in place. Plenty of very well educated simply do not trust PhARMA or government assertions that everything is absolutely safe and effective.