Andrew Wakefield's claim that routine childhood vaccines can cause autism has been thoroughly discredited. Earlier this year, the British doctor was barred from practising in the U.K. and his research was declared fraudulent by the British Medical Journal. But that hasn't been enough to undo all of the damage. Despite the scientific repudiation of his work, there remains a core of people who avoid having their children vaccinated, in part because of Wakefield's claims.
The fallout from this persistent anti-vaccine movement has been most pronounced in Britain and Ireland where fear of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine caused vaccination rates to fall below 80 per cent at one point, and some childhood diseases to return. In the U.S. and Europe, vaccination rates have also fallen, sometimes with deadly results. Ten newborns have died in California as part of the worst outbreak of whooping cough -- for which a vaccine is available -- in recent years.
But, while Wakefield's flawed research continues to resonate with some, especially in the developed world, the view from poorer parts of the world is dramatically different.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who now heads the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, calls vaccines simply "the best investment to improve the human condition."
In his annual letter as head of the foundation that spends more than $800 million a year on global health, including more than $80 million for the eradication of polio, Gates talks extensively about the importance of vaccines. Not only do vaccines reduce sickness and save lives, he notes, but countries with high levels of disease have lower IQ rates, which means reducing childhood diseases also gives those countries a better chance of developing their economies.
"In the same way that during my Microsoft career I talked about the magic of software, I now spend my time talking about the magic of vaccines. ... They are the most effective health tool ever invented."
Gates' praise of the power of vaccinations is in stark contrast to the anti-vaccine movement. It may just be that those in the wealthiest nations have the luxury of having short memories about the difference vaccines have made.
Many Canadians remember the ravages of polio, however. Until vaccines were developed, beginning in the 1950s, polio was one of the most feared diseases in North America. According to Polio Canada, there are about 125,000 survivors in the country, some of them now suffering from post-polio syndrome. But the disease has long-since been eradicated here.
The Gates Foundation has made it a priority to end polio in the rest of the world, something the Canadian federal government supports and which requires a concerted international effort. Eliminating polio would save three million lives in the next decade alone, at a cost of just 13 cents a dose. But Gates notes that eradication of polio has proven elusive in the past.
It is encouraging to see someone as powerful as Gates use his wealth and influence to make sure everyone in the world has equal chance to benefit from one of the most effective public health tools. The foundation's campaign also offers a timely reminder of how much we owe to vaccines.
