February 10, 2017.
Numerous studies show that the distrust of the French towards vaccines continues to increase. But how to fix it?
Health scandals at the origin of mistrust
Parents desperate for diphtheria, tetanus, and polio (DTP) vaccines that can be administered without the vaccine against pertussis, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type B, a germ that causes meningitis, will be happy to learn that the Council of State has asked the government to take measures to make available, within six months, these DTP vaccines independently of the other three.
But will this restore the confidence of parents who are suspicious of vaccines? It is a step. As it turns out, for years the French have faced too many vaccine-related health scandals to trust them completely again. Wasn’t the DTP vaccine suspended in 2008 due to “ allergic complications “? As for the hepatitis B vaccine, was it not suspended in 1998 because it was associated with new cases or relapses of multiple sclerosis?
The vaccine saves the lives of 2 to 3 million people each year
The World Health Organization (WHO) may recall that 2 to 3 million deaths are avoided each year in the world thanks to vaccination, the French are not more convinced than that. According to two studies conducted by the National Institute for Prevention and Health Education (Inpes), nearly 4 French 10 had an unfavorable opinion of vaccination in 2010. 5 years earlier, they were less than 10%.
In May 2015, Professor Henri Joyeux denounced the shortage of vaccines that only protect against diseases requiring vaccination, in a petition addressed to the Ministry of Health. The petition had gathered more than a million signatures. In the meantime, he was removed from the Order of Physicians in 2016, because he explained that Infanrix hexa contained aluminum and formaldehyde, “ two dangerous substances », As well as the vaccine against hepatitis B. It did not take more to convince the parents.
Read also: What do vaccines contain?
Marine Rondot.
