jolldan
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Public mistrust of vaccines means the world is taking a step backwards in the fight against deadly yet preventable infectious diseases, warn experts.
The biggest global study into attitudes on immunisation suggests confidence is low in some regions.
The Wellcome Trust analysis includes responses from more than 140,000 people in over 140 countries.
The World Health Organization lists vaccine hesitancy as one of the top 10 threats to global health.
The global survey reveals the number of people who say they have little confidence or trust in vaccination.
When asked if vaccines were safe:
- 79% "somewhat" or "strongly" agreed
- 7% somewhat or strongly disagreed
- 14% neither agreed nor disagreed
- 84% agree either strongly or somewhat
- 5% either strongly or somewhat disagree
- 12% neither agreed nor disagreed
There is overwhelming scientific evidence that vaccination is the best defence against deadly and debilitating infections, such as measles.
Vaccines protect billions of people around the world. They have completely got rid of one disease - smallpox - and are bringing the world close to eliminating others, such as polio.
But some other diseases, such as measles, are making a resurgence and experts say people avoiding vaccines, fuelled by fear and misinformation, is one of the main causes.
Dr Ann Lindstrand, an expert in immunisation at the WHO, said the current situation was extremely serious.
"Vaccine hesitancy has the potential, at least in some places, to really hinder the very real progress the world has made in controlling vaccine-preventable diseases," she said.
"Any resurgence we see in these diseases are an unacceptable step backwards."
What about measles?
Countries that were close to eliminating measles have been seeing large outbreaks.
Data shows a rise in cases in almost every region of the world, with 30% more cases in 2017 than 2016.
A decision not to vaccinate, for whatever reason, poses a risk to others as well as the individual from being infected themselves.
If enough people are vaccinated, it stops the disease from spreading through a population - something experts call "herd immunity".
Imran Khan, from the Wellcome Trust, said: "We are really concerned at the moment because for measles, anything less that 95% coverage can lead to outbreaks and that is what we are seeing."
Where was trust low?
Some people living in several higher-income regions were among the least certain about vaccine safety.
In France - a country among several European ones now experiencing outbreaks of measles - one in three disagreed that vaccines were safe, according to the survey. That was the highest percentage for any country worldwide.
People in France were also among the most likely to disagree that vaccines were effective, at 19%, and to disagree that vaccines were important for children to have, at 10%.
The French government has now added eight more compulsory vaccinations to the three children in the country already receive.
Neighbouring Italy - where 76% agreed vaccines were safe - recently passed a law that allows schools to ban unvaccinated children, or fine their parents, after immunisation rates dwindled.
The UK has yet to go this far but Health Secretary Matt Han**** has said he "won't rule out" the idea of introducing compulsory vaccinations if necessary.
The US has also been experiencing its own measles outbreak - the biggest to hit the country in decades, with more than 980 confirmed cases in 26 states in 2019 to date.
In Northern America, and Southern and Northern Europe, just over 70% of people agreed that vaccines were safe.
The figure was as low as 59% in Western Europe, and 50% in Eastern Europe.
In Ukraine, which reported the highest number in europe last year (53,218 in total) - only 50% of people agreed vaccines were effective. This figure was 46% in Belarus, 49% in Moldova, and 62% in Russia.
