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According to a new report from the Royal Society of Public Health (RSPH), social media is the main driver of the spread of negative connotations on vaccinations.
The Moving the Needle report states that while the UK maintains some of the world's best immunization coverage, public concerns about the side effects of vaccination continue to hinder vaccination.
Social media, in particular, continues to be a major problem for spreading negative messages about vaccines, especially for parents. The report shows that two in five parents (41%) are often exposed to negative messages over vaccines on social media. For parents of children under five, this figure rose to one in two (50%).
The RSPH is now calling for a number of actions to help improve and maintain the use of vaccines in the UK.
These include efforts to limit "false information" about vaccinations with social media platforms making more efforts to stem misinformation. The report also calls for vaccinations to be offered in more diverse settings and for booster services to be improved and diversified. This could include social media pop-ups for those who forget their appointments.
The report shows that some of the main obstacles to vaccination include the timing, availability and location of appointments.
The report also shows that attitudes towards vaccines are largely positive: 91% of parents said that vaccines are important for the health of their children. In addition, health professionals are highly trusted, with doctors and nurses considered as useful sources of information.
Worryingly, the key concepts of immunization are poorly understood: over a quarter of people (28%) think you may have too many vaccines.
Shirley Cramer, Executive Director of RSPH, CBE, said, "Vaccines are one of the most powerful tools we have to protect and improve the health of the population and save millions of lives every year around the world. The value of lifelong immunizations should not be underestimated.
In the UK, we are fortunate to have a fantastic vaccination program at the top of the world, with excellent levels of coverage. However, we should never be complacent: history has taught us that fear and misinformation about vaccines can cause considerable damage even to the most powerful vaccination programs.
With the rise of social media, we must guard against the spread of "false information" about vaccinations. We have seen worrying levels of exposure to negative messages about social media vaccinations and the spread of misinformation – if it had an impact on immunization – could seriously affect the health of the public.
It's been 21 years since Andrew Wakefield published his infamous and widely discredited article on an alleged link between the MMR vaccine and autism, and Europe is still suffering the consequences – as we have done. We have seen with the resurgence of the measles rate in recent years. In the 21st Century would be unacceptable to allow the return of vaccine preventable diseases, and it is essential that we do all we can to ensure that the United Kingdom retains its status as a world leader in immunization. "
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