Elmo has taken on the anti-vaxxers. And it's gold.

I refuse to be labelled an "anti-vaxxer" because I have deep concerns about this issue and do not simply accept Elmo's views as indubitable - just as I refuse to be labelled a "vaxxer" because I believe vaccination has a role to play in contemporary medicine.

The Good v Evil, binary way in which so many people seem to think about this issue is absurd. It's disrespectful and very crass. It's not the quality of discussion this important issue deserves. Vaccines are not an absolute good. Few things in our world are optimized by maximization. The medical industry HAS made serious mistakes in the past - well-documented and accepted as such. It is entirely rational to have a questioning approach to this issue. To be well-informed, we must listen to each other, not shout while wearing ear plugs.

California is currently in the throes of a very similar debate. In that case, Senate Bill 277 is being pushed hard by pharmaceutical industry lobbyists: if enacted, it will deny access to schools - public and private - to children who are not up to date with the full Government-mandated schedule of vaccinations, forcing parents to comply or home school. This may be an option for the wealthy, but it's not for most Californians, making vaccination essentially compulsory for most children in the State.

One of the prominent opponents of this legislation is Robert F Kennedy, nephew of the former US President, who (as he describes it) was dragged reluctantly into the issue after persisent appeals from desperate parents and immersion in the scientific literature over several years.

Kennedy is not "anti-vaccination", per se. He does, however, have very serious concerns compulsion, about the pharmaceutical industry and perhaps most crucial of all, about the regulatory authorities in the USA. As the US Center for Disease Control is often cited in Australian Government literature, this clearly has some relevance to Australia.

Are people here even aware of some of the substantive concerns about some vaccines?

Do you know there's a CDC whistle-blower, hoping to testify to the US Congress at some time in the future, who's gone public about corruption with the CDC's vaccine regulatory system?

Do you understand the danger than an extremely hostile attitude within large parts of the medical profession to the very possibility adverse reactions to vaccine occur - because it can lead to systematic bias in reporting and thus corruption of the basic reporting data?

Do you know how many people actually die from whooping cough in Australia each (the 'flagship' story in this latest brouhaha)?

Do you know whether whooping cough vaccination rates have gone up or down in Australia in recent years?

How about autism? Has it been on the increase?

Do you realize that until recently at least (I'm awaiting clarification on this from officialdom on the current situation), a mercury compound called Thiomersal was used in several vaccines in Australia (still is in some prescribed US flu vaccines)

Do you realise that Thiomersal usage has been reduced largely because of critics of the vaccination industry, whose input to the debate was typically unwelcome, and who were for years derided for suggesting there might be any problems at all injecting mercury into the blood-stream of small children?

Do you know that the CDC whistle-blower mentioned above has stated he was required by his bosses to falsify CDC reports about the safety of Thiomersal?

Do you understand the nexus between the CDS and pharmaceutical industry - at least in the USA?

Are you happy with a mass media so vehemently one-sided in its support for the status quo that it's unlikely to investigate whether there are problems in Australia with vaccine regulation - as there clearly are in the USA?

You may find sceptics are more intelligent than you imagine if you actually listen to them. You may decide some of us at least have good reason for scepticism.

Healthy, informed scepticism keeps us safe! Anyone heard the name Rachel Carson? How about Alice Stewart? The history of scientific sceptics who turn out to be correct - and who take a massive battering from corporate interests on the way through - is rich in courageous females. Why are so many of you so enthusiastic in shouting down the many women active on the vaccination issue, often because of their own personal experiences? You may not believe their stories, that's up to you - but you should recognize that, at the very least, they have already forced the vaccination industry to raise its game.

Anyone interested in the issues I've raised above might like to watch Robert Kennedy speak. There are two links below - one to a short (~15 minute) speech, another to a much longer presentation and panel discussion. There's also an article by Kennedy published recently in Alternet, useful because it provides copious references.

Chill out, everyone, We all want the best for children. Don't let this bogan, scientifically illiterate Abbott Government turn the focus away from their own bad policies by getting ordinary Australians embroiled in a divisive conflict.

http://www.alternet.org/per...

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

"In Australia too, ‘conscientious objectors’ – who oppose vaccinations on the basis of the discredited myth that vaccines can be harmful..."
I'm pretty sure vaccine injuries are not a myth.