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CAPRISA urges public to verify health claims amid vaccine misinformation

CAPRISA urges public to verify health claims amid vaccine misinformation

IOL Newsa day ago

The Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) has rejected the latest wave of misinformation circulating on social media, asserting that false claims about COVID-19 vaccines are misleading the public and undermining trust in scientific research.
According to the organisation's Head of Communications, Minoshni Pillay, a video making the rounds on social media and other communication applications wherein its director, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, is purported to be spreading fake news about Covid-19 vaccines and their related side effects.
Professor Karim wished to reiterate that the COVID-19 vaccines are indeed safe.
Neither CAPRISA nor Professor Karim has endorsed any medicines for any company, Pillay said.
'Standing by our commitment to protecting the safety and well-being of the public based on accurate and trusted scientific research, CAPRISA urges members of the public to verify all health claims, and to refrain from sharing misinformation, and report it as fake immediately,' Pillay said.

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Millions of children missing vaccines
Millions of children missing vaccines

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time2 hours ago

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Millions of children missing vaccines

MILLIONS of children around the world may be at risk because of stalling vaccination efforts in recent years, according to an analysis of a half-century of global vaccination efforts. The study, published Tuesday in the Lancet medical journal, said that the World Health Organization's global vaccination program 'has achieved remarkable success' since it was created in 1974, reaching more than 4 billion children and saving 154 million lives. But progress has stalled in recent decades, the authors said, with inequalities in access and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as an upsurge in vaccine hesitancy and misinformation, continuing to hinder progress. The study said that while global coverage for key vaccines, including those against measles, polio and tuberculosis, almost doubled between 1980 and 2023, progress slowed in many countries and territories between 2010 and 2019, and has even reversed in some cases in recent years. The trend was also seen in wealthier parts of the world, with declines in at least one key vaccine in 21 of 36 high-income countries and territories. The coronavirus pandemic 'exacerbated these challenges, with global rates for these vaccines declining sharply since 2020, and still not returning to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels as of 2023,' the study said, causing tens millions of children to miss doses of routine vaccines and 'increasing their risk for preventable disease and death.' 'Despite the monumental efforts of the past 50 years, progress has been far from universal. Large numbers of children remain under- and un-vaccinated,' senior study author Jonathan Mosser of University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation said in a news release. 'Routine childhood vaccinations are among the most powerful and cost-effective public health interventions available, but persistent global inequalities, challenges from the COVID pandemic, and the growth of vaccine misinformation and hesitancy have all contributed to faltering immunisation progress,' he added. In many countries, these trends have led to outbreaks of diseases that can be prevented by vaccination, such as measles, polio and diphtheria, the study said. Kate O'Brien, WHO director for immunization, vaccines and biologicals, said in an emailed statement that 'despite incredible progress' brought about by vaccines, 'we are now confronting a painful reality: Progress has stalled and in some countries is being lost. Immunization rates have plateaued, and year after year, we are reaching the same proportion of children without extending their reach to those left behind.' 'Unless we intensify efforts to reach more children through equitable routine immunization programmes, increase domestic investment, and strengthen vaccine confidence and demand, we risk undoing years of hard-won progress - leading to a future where more children suffer from preventable illnesses and premature death,' she added. An increase in vaccine hesitancy, as well as misinformation - which the WHO signaled as a leading threat to global public health even before the pandemic - have impacted immunization, the study noted. Conflict is another factor. The outbreak of civil war in Sudan in 2023 led to one key coverage measurement - the number of children receiving the first dose of the DTP vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis - falling from almost 90 percent to about half of that, according to the study. Planned budget cuts to vaccines 'are likely to disproportionately affect low-income and middle income countries,' the study said, but richer countries are also likely to be affected by higher costs caused by increasing outbreaks. The study's findings echo a warning this spring from the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who noted outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases were increasing around the world, 'putting lives at risk and exposing countries to increased costs in treating diseases and responding to outbreaks.' He urged countries with limited resources to 'invest in the highest-impact interventions - and that includes vaccines.' The study, which was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, was published in the Lancet medical journal. Last month, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he may stop government scientists from publishing in the Lancet and several other top peer-reviewed journals, accusing them - without evidence - of being 'corrupt.' Shortly after returning to office in January, President Donald Trump announced the United States' withdrawal from the WHO. Two months later, a USAID document showed that the administration planned funding cuts for Gavi, which provides lifesaving vaccinations for millions of people in the world's poorest countries. Domestically, following the deaths of two children in Texas from measles - with a total of 23 outbreaks recorded across the U.S. with more than 1,000 confirmed cases - Kennedy has given mixed messages on measles immunization and caused controversy by announcing placebo testing for new vaccines. David L. Heymann, professor of infectious-disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and who was not involved in the research, said in a telephone interview Wednesday that public trust is a key part of vaccination success. He urged governments to 'take a great interest in this and to make sure that they're getting the right messages to their people,' and emphasized the importance of evidence-based recommendations from trusted organizations like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group and a professor at the University of Oxford, who also was not involved in the research, in a statement called the findings a 'worrying trend' that is 'set to deteriorate' amid global health funding cuts. In a separate email Wednesday, he accused the Trump administration of 'undermining' parents' confidence in vaccines, risking further drops in coverage. 'This combined with a catastrophic reduction of global health funding, rejection of scientific evidence on vaccines and challenges to credible scientific leadership on immunisation policy means that the once trusted voice of America on vaccines is diminished,' he said.

Child vaccine coverage faltering, threatening millions: study
Child vaccine coverage faltering, threatening millions: study

eNCA

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Child vaccine coverage faltering, threatening millions: study

NEW YORK - Efforts to vaccinate children against deadly diseases are faltering across the world due to economic inequality, Covid-era disruptions and misinformation, putting millions of lives at risk, research warned on Wednesday. These trends all increase the threat of future outbreaks of preventable diseases, the researchers said, while sweeping foreign aid cuts threaten previous progress in vaccinating the world's children. A new study published in The Lancet journal looked at childhood vaccination rates across 204 countries and territories. It was not all bad news. An immunisation programme by the World Health Organization was estimated to have saved an estimated 154 million lives over the last 50 years. And vaccination coverage against diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, measles, polio and tuberculosis doubled between 1980 and 2023, the international team of researchers found. However, the gains slowed in the 2010s, when measles vaccinations decreased in around half of the countries, with the largest drop in Latin America. Meanwhile, in more than half of all high-income countries there were declines in coverage for at least one vaccine dose. Then the Covid-19 pandemic struck. Routine vaccination services were hugely disrupted during lockdowns and other measures, resulting in nearly 13 million extra children who never received any vaccine dose between 2020 to 2023, the study said. This disparity endured, particularly in poorer countries. In 2023, more than half of the world's 15.7 million completely unvaccinated children lived in just eight countries, the majority in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the study. In the European Union, 10 times more measles cases were recorded last year compared to 2023. In the United States, a measles outbreak surged past 1,000 cases across 30 states last month, which is already more than were recorded in all of 2024. Cases of polio, long eradicated in many areas thanks to vaccination, have been rising in Pakistan and Afghanistan, while Papua New Guinea is currently enduring a polio outbreak. - 'Tragedy' - "Routine childhood vaccinations are among the most powerful and cost-effective public health interventions available," said senior study author Jonathan Mosser of the US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). "But persistent global inequalities, challenges from the Covid pandemic, and the growth of vaccine misinformation and hesitancy have all contributed to faltering immunisation progress," he said in a statement. In addition, there are "rising numbers of displaced people and growing disparities due to armed conflict, political volatility, economic uncertainty, climate crises," added lead study author Emily Haeuser, also from the IHME. The researchers warned the setbacks could threaten the WHO's goal of having 90 percent of the world's children and adolescents receive essential vaccines by 2030. The WHO also aims to halve the number of children who have received no vaccine doses by 2030 compared to 2019 levels. Just 18 countries have achieved this so far, according to the study, which was funded by the Gates Foundation and the Gavi vaccine alliance. The global health community has also been reeling since President Donald Trump's administration drastically slashed US international aid earlier this year. "For the first time in decades, the number of kids dying around the world will likely go up this year instead of down because of massive cuts to foreign aid," Bill Gates said in a separate statement on Tuesday. "That is a tragedy," the Microsoft co-founder said, committing $1.6 billion to Gavi, which is holding a fund-raising summit in Brussels on Wednesday. dl/yad

CAPRISA urges public to verify health claims amid vaccine misinformation
CAPRISA urges public to verify health claims amid vaccine misinformation

IOL News

timea day ago

  • IOL News

CAPRISA urges public to verify health claims amid vaccine misinformation

The Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) has rejected the latest wave of misinformation circulating on social media, asserting that false claims about COVID-19 vaccines are misleading the public and undermining trust in scientific research. According to the organisation's Head of Communications, Minoshni Pillay, a video making the rounds on social media and other communication applications wherein its director, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, is purported to be spreading fake news about Covid-19 vaccines and their related side effects. Professor Karim wished to reiterate that the COVID-19 vaccines are indeed safe. Neither CAPRISA nor Professor Karim has endorsed any medicines for any company, Pillay said. 'Standing by our commitment to protecting the safety and well-being of the public based on accurate and trusted scientific research, CAPRISA urges members of the public to verify all health claims, and to refrain from sharing misinformation, and report it as fake immediately,' Pillay said.

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