The WHO “worries” about Donald Trump’s new offensive against vaccination in the United States
The new vaccine recommendations decreed this week by Donald Trump are not based on reliable scientific data, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday August 12. “Vaccination policy must be based on a rigorous, independent and transparent review of the best available science, not on political influence”warned, on the social network X, the Director General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The American president, who took his country out of the WHO, signed a decree on Monday containing new recommendations on vaccines, calling for spacing out their administration to children, and he mentioned autism while presenting the text.
“WHO is concerned that recent changes to immunization policy in the United States are not aligned with scientific evidence accumulated over decades”assured Mr. Tedros.
“Vaccines do not cause autism”
This data “indicate when children are most vulnerable to disease, when vaccines offer the best protection, how many doses are needed, and which vaccines can be safely administered simultaneously”he explained, emphasizing that they are subject to continuous review as new information is gathered around the world.
The head of the WHO also warns that “Delaying vaccination or unnecessarily spacing out doses does not make vaccination safer and may leave children unprotected”. “The current evidence is unequivocal: vaccines – including MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) – are safe and do not cause autism »he said. The decree signed Monday by Donald Trump recommends separating vaccines against measles, rubella and mumps in particular, instead of administering them in one injection.
The WHO has already repeatedly emphasized the absence of a link between vaccination and this neurodevelopmental disorder. Both the American president and his health minister, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., continue to suggest that there could be one.
Worst measles epidemic in thirty-five years
Known for his anti-vaccine positions, Robert Kennedy Jr has initiated, since his appointment, a broad review of vaccines. He reshuffled the pediatric vaccination schedule and cut funding for the development of new vaccines, all measures strongly condemned by the medical and scientific community.
The American justice system had suspended earlier in the year the overhaul of American vaccine policy that he had launched. The federal government, not having the authority to make decisions directly regarding vaccines, is content to advise American states to review compulsory vaccinations for attending schools.
This decree signed on Monday comes at a time when millions of children will return to school in the country, which is experiencing its worst measles epidemic in thirty-five years. In his message published on X, the head of the WHO also reassured families: “All parents want to keep their children safe, and vaccines are among the most powerful tools to do that by preventing life-threatening illnesses. »
