Yes you read that correctly - terrorists are actually killing people who are providing vaccines. The latest attack in Pakistan resulted in the deaths of five teachers and two healthcare workers who were involved in providing polio vaccines. In the month prior, nine others were killed due to their affiliation with vaccinations.
So aside from senseless deaths, the effect of these killings is fewer people receiving their life saving vaccines. It means more children being infected with diseases which could have been prevented, and needless suffering and death. That may seem like an overreaction, but we need only look at the latest numbers of children dying from the measles in Pakistan to witness the impact.
Measles deaths have surged due in no small part to the lack of vaccines. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 306 children died of measles in 2012 up from only 64 the year before. Yet if you are to ask an anti-vaccinationist they will claim vaccines are harmful and that they don't even prevent disease. They will claim the only people pushing vaccines are those who stand to profit from them, and they will claim that people are better off if they never receive any vaccines at all.
Tell it to the families who have suffered from the loss of one of their own. Tell it to the healthcare workers who are putting their own lives on the line only to see ignorance and fear result in hundreds of senseless deaths. Tell it to the grieving mothers who have had to bury those 306 children.
The truth is, anti-vaxxers have a lot in common with terrorists. They both fear education. They both fear legitimate science. They both prey upon fear, and they both take drastic steps to prevent people from receiving vaccines. Thankfully the anti-vaccinationists in the US have yet to resort to murder in order to push their viewpoints, but when you deliberately mislead people about matters of life and death, perhaps they aren't that far off after all.
One thing you won't see from the anti-vaxxers is any talk about the violence against those who are working in areas like Pakistsan, India, or Afghanistan. You won't hear about the murders, and you won't hear about the growing numbers of children dying from preventable diseases. Once again, anti-vaxxers will do their best to avoid the difficult conversations as they continue on their mission to mislead the uninformed and as they refuse to accept responsibility for the true impacts of remaining ignorant.
It would seem anti-vaxxers have a lot more in common with terrorists than they would like to admit. They may claim they are warriors, but in the end they are still responsible for the deaths of children... and that is nothing to brag about.
Coming from someone who lives their life by the scientific method?- you failed to understand that the article you provided above states only that they "believed it to be related to anti-polio group". Not anti-vax. Not 100%. Oh crap yeah scientific method is based on theory...oh wait theory isnt fact is it? Did you know that the concept of microbes causing disease is theory. Its not fact. So your science has now become your belief system. (sure not all aspects of science are theory). But this one is. How would you feel if we reversed this situation. And vaccines were illegalized and you desperatly wanted it for your family based on your scientific theories and it was denied to you? Not half as bad as something being forced into your personal body.
ReplyDeletePeople die and yes people include all ages and races from various backgrounds. We dont even have the manpower in the health field (at least in America) to ensure health practice for all at the rate they need it.
Now can you tell me out of those 306 children who died- how many would be still be alive today if they had the vaccine? Dont calucate just your vaccine factors- calculate all disease rates including cancer and childhood/ birth complications, environmental factors and their homeostasis prior to infection.
Understand your perception. Pathogens don't exist outside of the diseased tissue/environment. So tell me how does a pathogen arise? And then think about that for awhile while questioning the true cause of disease.
Simon, Simon, Simon... there have been numerous cases of doctors and clinics and medical organizations being attacked for providing vaccines, and it is very much because of the vaccines. This is because these people feel that vaccines are harmful and/or contain some 'poison' which will result in the deaths of those injected.
DeleteIn is a well known issue and yes it very much boils down to a fear, ignorance, and hatred for vaccinations.
As to the scientific method, you are very, very confused. You are using the term theory as if it is equal to "scientific theory". You need to first understand a scientific theory is an evidenced fact. It is "a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based upon a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment".
In science, and observation that has been repeatedly confirmed is accepted as "true". However, truth in science is never final, which is why we have concepts like gravitational theory. This isn't to say we doubt gravity, but we may never know everything there is about gravity, and thus it will always remain a scientific theory.
Now as far as your statements, it seems you have a hypothesis of your own. That is an opinion or a hunch but needs verification. If you can show evidence your hypothesis is correct you are on your way... however you must also be willing to acknowledge if your deductions are incorrect you need to revisit and adjust (or perhaps even abandon) your hypothesis.
I can't tell you how many of those 306 children would be alive today if they were all vaccinated as nobody knows alternative outcomes and it is impossible to state otherwise, but I can say with an acceptable amount of certainty based upon the known efficacy of vaccines that at least some of those children would be alive today. Perhaps it would be 25, perhaps 50, or maybe 250.... but even if it were only one child it certainly seems as if it would be worth it to vaccinate the remainder if only that one child would have lived.
Or are you really so anti-vaccine that you are more comfortable with 306 dead children than 306 vaccinated children where only a small percentage survive? I fail to see how anyone could argue that hundreds of dead children is a good thing... but when it comes to anti-vaxxers there isn't much that surprises me anymore.