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Launching a nationwide information campaign in Bern on Monday,
health officials said they would like 90-95 per cent of
children and young adults to be vaccinated against a range of
potentially fatal diseases.
Currently, about 80 per cent of people in Switzerland are
immunised against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), diptheria,
tetanus, polio, pertussis (whooping cough), Haemophilus
influenzae type B (Hib), and Hepatitis B between the ages of
two months and 15.
“We know that vaccines and vaccinations in the past have been
a success story,” Dithelm Hartmann, deputy director of the
Federal Health Office, told swissinfo.
“We know that if the acceptance of vaccination in the general
population falls below 80 per cent, then new dangers arise as
has been demonstrated in a number of epidemics both inside and
outside Switzerland.”
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If the acceptance of vaccination... falls below 80 per
cent, then new dangers arise.
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Dithelm Hartmann, Federal Health Office
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Killer potential
In the late 1990s, there were 150,000 cases of diphtheria
including 4,000 deaths in countries of the former Soviet Union
because of a slackening of the vaccination programme.
Outbreaks of polio in the Netherlands in the early 1990s and
whooping cough in the late 1970s in the United Kingdom also
demonstrate the killer potential of these diseases.
Before the introduction of vaccinations in Switzerland, every
year saw about 3,000 cases of diphtheria, 200 cases of
meningitis through Hib as well as 700 cases of polio resulting
in 80 deaths and about 50 deaths from tetanus.
“After vaccinations were introduced, the numbers declined
dramatically,” said Hartmann.
A jab too far
Hartmann accepted that vaccination carried some risks but said
fears were vastly exaggerated. “The risk is very low compared
with the risk of really living through the disease itself,” he
said.
Federal health office statistics show that allergies against
the Hepatitis B vaccine occur in one case out of 600,000 while
the risk of contracting MMR is reckoned to be between 200 and
1000 times higher if children are not vaccinated.
There has been considerable debate in the past year about
links between the triple MMR vaccine and autism.
“We are following this very carefully and seriously,” said
Hartmann. “We are however very relieved that scientific
studies have clearly shown that a [link] between the
vaccination and the occurrence of autism has not been
confirmed.
“Autism in developed societies is on the rise but this is
independent of vaccination for MMR.”
Shot in the arm
Inoculation doesn’t only offer individual protection but is
part of international efforts to eradicate these diseases.
The health office reckons that the cost of the vaccination
programme per child is about SFr500.
“If a child or young adolescent falls ill with tetanus, the
treatment can cost tens of thousands of francs,” said
Hartmann.
The federal and cantonal health authorities are investing
SFr600,000 a year in the information campaign. The initiative
is supported by the Swiss Medical Association.
“We want really to inform parents who need information and to
inform doctors so that on the level between physician and the
parent there will be a good dialogue with good information so
that a good decision can be based on that,” said Hartmann.
swissinfo, Vincent Landon
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