The Principle - Or the Money ?

Medical authorities were becoming alarmed because diseases that had long been vanquished by vaccination were starting to reappear.   Decades earlier the benefits of vaccination seemed clear to most people.  There seemed no hesitation in presenting at the child health centres scattered about this country and we were achieving the ratio of cover that gives protection to " the herd " !

It is marvellous how a simple rumour can achieve a life of its own.   It began as a whisper in the magazine world when a claim surfaced that child vaccinations spread autism in children.   One of the problems with autism is that it often only becomes recognised several years into the life of a child and this seemed to authenticate the link between the disease and vaccination.

Several books were written on this subject and the case was taken up by some prominent women who had the admiration of their peers.   Very quickly an association was formed and we had an active body advocating the refusal of any form of vaccination because this rumour was now including all sorts of diseases which it claimed was spread by vaccination.

There is no medical intervention that is entirely risk free and the medical professionals who publicly claimed that no link existed between autism and vaccinations were disbelieved.   In fact, some vaccination denier fanatics claimed that it was a medical coverup and there were sinister undertones. It was sufficiently believable to throw a doubt in the mind of many very intelligent mothers - and cause them to at least delay vaccination as a safety precaution.

We were facing down a very real health danger.    To cover the entire population and that includes new born babies too young to be vaccinated we need 98% cover - and the statistics showed that we were falling far short.   The health authorities launched a publicity campaign to try and improve the vaccination rate and this caused the anti vaccination brigade to actively collect money and put together a paid opposition with spurious claims of the danger vaccination presented.

It looked like an unwinnable battle.   A doubt had been planted in the mind of many mothers and the instinct to protect their children was paramount.   The hard core anti vaccination people had convinced themselves that they were right and the entire medical profession was wrong, and this looked like developing into a fight to the death.

In an attempt to improve the vaccination rate, the government made it necessary for parents to present an up to date vaccination ticket when booking their children into day care centres.   No vaccination  ticket ?   No admission possible.   The vaccination rate quickly improved.

Australia welcomes our growing population of children and we encourage families by providing incentives to share the load of the costs involved.   To the average parent, this can deliver a benefit of around fourteen thousand dollars a year.    As a last resort, the government began withholding this benefit from those with un-vaccinated children.

It quickly became a test between the principle - or the money.   When put to the test, the authenticity of the anti-vaxxers fell far short of the claims by the entire medical profession and wise decisions were made.   We have now reached 95% cover and that magical 98% is in sight.

There is still a hard core refusing vaccinations, but in many instances these are people who earn in a professional field and to who the child benefits provided by the government are not significant.