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June 30, 2003
INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS
"Three Babies Die After Being Given 'Wrong
Vaccine'"
At Mulanje District Hospital in Malawi, three
babies are dead and three more are in serious condition after healthcare workers
reportedly gave the infants anesthetics instead of the combination vaccine
against diphtheria, tetanus, and polio. Investigations focusing on one female
and two male workers at the hospital are ongoing, though charges have yet to be
filed. Malawi Health Minister Yusuf Mwawa expressed concern about the babies'
deaths, but he asserted that the incident does not indicate health officials'
negligence in hiring healthcare workers. Mwawa also noted that Malawi was
recently awarded a World Health Organization award in immunization.
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"A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."
-- Albert Einstein, letter to a friend, 1901
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William C. Jarvis, September 28, 1820
"What's the point of vaccination if it doesn't protect you from the unvaccinated?"
-- Sandy Gottstein
"Who gets to decide what the greater good is and how many will be sacrificed to it?"