Sam Lister
The Times
06/10/2010
Doctors are encouraging a public mistrust of vaccines by putting out mixed messages that increase patients’ concerns, one of the country’s leading scientists says.
Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, chief executive of the Medical Research Council, said that health professionals had to do more to challenge vaccine scares, such as those surrounding measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) and swine flu.
In an interview with The Times, Sir Leszek said that doctors and nurses must take greater responsibility for educating the public about vaccine benefits and exploring any objections. Such discussions should start when the vaccines — ranging from those for infectious disease to cancer and therapeutic jabs for addictions — were still in the early stages of development.
Immunisation programmes could carry elements of uncertainty but when safety, efficacy and health benefits were established, such signals were very damaging, he said.
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