Truthout Op-Ed - Selective Outrage and Public Health: There Are Greater Dangers Than Anti-Vaxxers

[proverbialwisdom]

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/29060-selective-outrage-and-public-health-there-are-greater-dangers-than-anti-vaxxers#

Selective Outrage and Public Health: There Are Greater Dangers Than Anti-Vaxxers

Thursday, 12 February 2015 00:00
By Alex James, Truthout | Op-Ed

[center]Outrage at the public health threat posed by anti-vaxxers is necessary, but we also need to scrutinize corporate corruption and systemic fraud that engenders faulty science, and poses an arguably larger threat to public health.[/center]
The recent measles outbreak with its epicenter in Disneyland has highlighted a problem in media discourse around public health and vaccines, though it may not be the problem that first comes to mind: The problem is selective outrage.

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In 2010, in the wake of these serious outbreaks, two whistleblowers, Stephen A. Krahling and Joan A. Wlochowski, both former Merck virologists, brought a lawsuit to bear against Merck. The lawsuit alleges that Merck scientists have consistently and knowingly falsified data on the efficacy of its line of MMR vaccines. Although Merck attempted to have the case dismissed, in September 2014, a federal court in Pennsylvania decided to hear the case.

Hard on the heels of this news, a third whistleblower came forward in August 2014, this time a senior scientist at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), William W. Thompson, who made a statement that he and the co-authors of a 2004 study, which claimed to definitively absolve the MMR vaccine of any connection to autism, in fact omitted crucial data:

I regret that my coauthors and I omitted statistically significant information in our 2004 article . . . The omitted data suggested that African American males who received the MMR vaccine before age 36 months were at increased risk for autism. Decisions were made regarding which findings to report after the data were collected, and I believe that the final study protocol was not followed.

The Obama administration granted whistleblower immunity to Thompson on February 3. If Thompson's claims against his own study and practices at the CDC are proved true, it has earth-shattering consequences in considering the alleged universal safety of current MMR vaccines.

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[mzmolly]

1. Gee, a pharma company omitting data? Ironically, most 'anti-vaxxers' have noted like issues

for years. Thus the term 'anti-vaxxer' ... The rules are, we are never to question any vaccine, any vaccine ingredient, any vaccine related study, or any manufacturer of a vaccine, ever.

[postulater]

2. Can't be true. That must be a Fox news lie.

Corporations with billions of dollars at stake would not withhold evidence would they?

Good on Obama! I hope the truth comes out.

[geek tragedy]

3. Truth-out joins Rand Paul in the anti-vaxxer Lite stink pile.

Vaccines do not cause autism. There is absolutely no reason for any rational person to believe they do.

Period.

www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/warrens-not-so-subtle-shot-across-rand-pauls-bow

Among the witnesses was Dr. Anne Schuchat, a rear admiral for the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the director for the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) asked Schuchat a series of direct and important questions:
“Is there any scientific evidence that vaccines cause autism?”

“Is there any scientific evidence that vaccines cause ‘profound mental disorders’?”

“Is there any scientific evidence that vaccines have contributed to the rise in allergies or auto-immune disorders among kids?”

“Are there additives or preservatives in vaccines that can be toxic to kids?”

“Is there any scientific evidence that giving kids their vaccines further apart or spacing them differently is healthier for kids?”

“Is there any scientific evidence that kids can develop immunity to these diseases on their own, simply by eating nutritious foods or being active?”
The answer to all of these questions, not surprisingly, was “No.” It prompted the Massachusetts Democrat to add, “All of the credible scientific evidence suggests that modern vaccines are safe, modern vaccines are effective, and modern vaccines are our best chance of protecting our children from diseases that can kill them. Is that right?” Schuchat, of course, agreed.

And about that supposedly withheld data?

You'll never guess.
http://www.snopes.com/medical/disease/cdcwhistleblower.asp

[shenmue]

4. Thank goodness

someone else is not an idiot.

[geek tragedy]

5. Truth-out cites a Republican mag to spread anti-vaxxer nonsense.

One step above Rense.com

[proverbialwisdom]

16. Yahoo News does, too in this Feb 4, 2015 segment.

http://news.yahoo.com/video/obama-admin-grants-immunity-cdc-122920130.html

Like you, I'd prefer better sourcing, too. Time will tell.

[Warpy]

6. I wish more people would check Snopes.com

before they publish stuff on the web and make complete arses of themselves.

Too much money has been diverted away from real research to keep refuting that lying ass Wakefield.

They still keep trotting out the lies, hoping we'll all have forgotten the last time they did it.

[proverbialwisdom]

7. "Snopes" trumps allegations by a whistleblower law firm prior to formal Congressional investigation?

Please review the first and last links:

http://www.morganverkamp.com/august-27-2014-press-release-statement-of-william-w-thompson-ph-d-regarding-the-2004-article-examining-the-possibility-of-a-relationship-between-mmr-vaccine-and-autism/

http://www.snopes.com/medical/disease/cdcwhistleblower.asp
http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/cdcimmunity.asp

http://touch.orlandosentinel.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-81317483/

Posey looking at whistleblower's CDC autism documents

Scott Powers, Central Florida Political Pulse
10:40 am, September 9, 2014

U.S. Rep. Bill Posey has been curious for a while about whether there's been enough research into alleged links between childhood immunizations and autism, and now his office has a cache of documents from a CDC scientist who said his research was tainted.

Posey's Congressional office is reviewing somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 documents, including research statistics, it obtained from Dr. William Thompson, who has complained that the CDC withheld some of his data that may have suggested a link.

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[Warpy]

8. Just consider a few things

For instance, research money that might have come up with better medications and treatments has been diverted for over 20 years to studying Wakefield's allegations, which have all been thoroughly debunked as lies because he wanted his own vaccine to go into production. This research has happened internationally and all of it has come up empty when it has looked for any sort of a vaccine connection to any illnesses.

The data are in. Wakefield lied, his paper was withdrawn, and he lost his license to practice medicine in the UK, which is why he fled here to spread his lies to medically ignorant antivaxers.

At some point, you are going to have to start realizing that independent research groups in several countries all over the planet who have arrived at the same conclusion just might be right that there is no connection.

Please read the Snopes article, paying close attention to the word next to the red dot near the top. http://www.snopes.com/medical/disease/cdcwhistleblower.asp

And in future, if you have a dead horse to flog, do it in front of someone who has never been in any of the medical fields. You might gain some traction with the medically ignorant.

[proverbialwisdom]

9. On the contrary, your post contains a number of specious misconceptions, as you will discover.

Sorry.

[geek tragedy]

12. Now you're citing the pandering by a Tea Party politician to support your nutjob crusade.

Sad, desperate, pathetic, contemptible.

[proverbialwisdom]

13. No, check it out: (Page 30) "...JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR, with whom JUSTICE GINSBERG joins, dissenting."

http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/09-152.pdf
CASE: Bruesewitz v. Wyeth

RECAP: The Supreme Court majority concluded that manufacturers could NOT be sued even for faulty product design because their products are categorized as "unavoidably unsafe" (rarely... for some).

Justices Sotomayor and Ginsberg DISSENTED (28 pages).

NYT (link below): In a final footnote, Justice Sotomayor wrote that a concern about an asserted link “between certain vaccines and autism spectrum disorders” appeared to “underlie the majority and concurring opinions in this case.” <> In any event, she said, “Congress intended to leave the courthouse doors open for children who have suffered severe injuries from defectively designed vaccines.”

MORE:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-02-22/suits-against-vaccine-makers-curbed-by-u-s-supreme-court-in-pfizer-case
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/22/AR2011022206008.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/23/business/23bizcourt.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/to-justice-sotomayor-proof-that-vaccines-cause-autism-is-just-one-lawsuit-away/

BEST: http://www.ageofautism.com/2011/02/we-lost-bruesewitz-v-wyeth-but-we-gained-sotomayor-and-ginsburg.html

Tea Party, baloney. That's not actually how people line up. Developing...

[proverbialwisdom]

10. NEW! RFK Jr today on senior CDC vaccine safety scientist, Dr. William W. Thompson.

Skeptics? Incoming soon here: http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/

http://www.ringoffireradio.com/2015/02/cdc-scientist-still-maintains-agency-forced-researchers-lie-safety-mercury-based-vaccines/

CDC Scientist Still Maintains Agency Forced Researchers To Lie About Safety Of Mercury Based Vaccines

—February 12, 2015
WITH UPDATED LINKS.

by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr

I am, now and have always been fiercely pro vaccine. I had all six of my children vaccinated. I believe that vaccines have saved the lives of hundreds of millions of humans over the past century and that broad vaccine coverage is critical to public health. But I want our vaccines to be as safe as possible. The new revelations in the following article support what I have been saying for eight years: ...When you vaccinate, always ask for Thimerosal-free vaccine, which are now available for virtually all vaccinations on the CDC schedule.

A senior CDC vaccine safety scientist, Dr. William Thompson, has invoked the protection of the Federal Whistleblower Statute following the release of his taped conversations disclosing pervasive corruption within CDC’s Vaccine Safety Division. Dr. Thompson, a sixteen year veteran and a senior scientist at CDC’s Immunology Safety Office is currently employed at CDC’s National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. Thompson is an author of two of the three epidemiological studies on American population touted by CDC to “prove” the safety of Thimerosal against developmental disabilities. Thimerosal is a controversial mercury based vaccine preservative that research scientists and vaccine safety advocates have connected to the epidemic of brain disorders in children. The vaccine industry’s foremost spokesman and the world’s premier champion for Thimerosal in vaccines, Dr. Paul Offit, stated in 2008 that Dr. Thompson’s “wonderful” 2007 study was the “definitive” study on Thimerosal safety.

But Thompson now says that his bosses at CDC pressured him to alter the results of that study to conceal Thimerosal’s risks. Dr. Thompson says that his superiors at the CDC Developmental Disabilities Branch pressured him to manipulate the study’s findings and to bury the links between Thimerosal and brain damage. In response to this pressure, the published version downplayed data showing that Thimerosal causes “Tics”, a family of grave neurological injuries – including Tourette’s Syndrome – that are associated with Autism. Thompson now says that the data showed a definitive statistically significant association between Thimerosal and tics. “Thimerosal from vaccines cause tics….I can say tics are four times more prevalent in kids with autism. There is biologic plausibility right now to say that Thimerosal causes autism-like features.” After burying these findings, CDC touted Thompson’s study to exculpate Thimerosal for use in current flu vaccine which is administered to pregnant women and young children. Thompson stated recently, in a taped interview with Simpson University biochemist Dr. Brian Hooker, “Do you think a pregnant mother would want to take a vaccine that they know caused tics? Absolutely not!! I would never give my wife a vaccine that I thought caused tics.” LINK.

Thompson was also the co-author of a 2004 study in Pediatrics in which he now admits that, under pressure from CDC bosses, his team fraudulently withheld data demonstrating a significant link between the MMR vaccine and autism in African American boys. In a taped conversation, Thompson confessed, “I have great shame now when I meet families with kids with autism because I’ve – I’ve been part of the problem.”

In a written statement issued by Thompson’s attorney, Rick Morgan of Morgan Verkamp of Cincinnati, Ohio – a firm that specializes in Federal whistleblower cases – Thompson said: “I regret that my coauthors and I omitted statistically significant information in our 2004 article published in the Journal Pediatrics. The omitted data suggested that African American males who received the MMR vaccine before age 36 months were at increased risk for autism. Decisions were made regarding which findings to report after the data were collected, and I believe that the final study protocol was not followed.”

Thompson described a pervasive culture of corruption at CDC’s Immunization Safety Office directed toward concealing statistical links between vaccines and brain injuries, particularly autism. “I have a boss who is asking me to lie. The higher ups wanted to do certain things and I went along with it. I was, in terms of chain in command, I was number four out of the five. Colleen (Boyle) was the Division Chief. Marshalyn (Yeargin-Allsopp) was a Branch Chief. Frank (DeStefano) was a Branch Chief at the time.”

Immediately after release of Thompson’s audio taped revelations, Dr. Frank DeStefano, now Chief of the Immunization Safety office, admitted in a September interview to CBS reporter, Sharyl Attkisson, that vaccines may indeed trigger autism in some vulnerable children. LINK.

Thompson’s attorneys have handed over thousands of damning CDC documents to Congressman Bill Posey of Florida. Last week, Posey’s staff said that the Congressman is working with Committee Chairman, Lamar Smith, to schedule a hearing this spring on Thompson’s revelations before the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. Posey hopes to subpoena Dr. Thompson, who is still employed by CDC; Thompson has promised that he intends to come clean about CDC. “If forced to testify, I’m not going to lie. I basically have stopped lying.” LINK.

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CDC’s Immunization Safety Office is a troubled agency. In recent years a series of studies by Federal Investigators and Congressional committees, have issued scathing reports highlighting the dire conflicts of interest at CDC’s vaccine and research divisions. A 2000 report by the Government Reform Committee entitled “Conflicts of Interest in Vaccine Policy Making” identified a long inventory of corrupt financial ties between regulators and vaccine makers in FDA and CDC’s vaccine programs that are diverting the agency from its task of safeguarding public health. A 2007 US Senate investigation by Senator Tom Coburn, “CDC Off Center” found widespread corruption and mismanagement at CDC’s vaccine programs (Coburn, CDC Off Center, 2007). In 2008 an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General (IG) of HHS found that 97% of Special Government Advisors on committees in the CDC vaccine program failed to disclose necessary information about conflicts of interest (Levinson, 2008). Those findings prompted a series of criminal investigations. In March 2014 the US Office of Research Integrity (ORI), Director, David Wright, quit his job issuing a searing letter claiming pervasive scientific misconduct in biomedical research at CDC, the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Public Health Service (PHS) all part of HHS which he characterized as “a remarkably dysfunctional bureaucracy.” (Wright, 2014) There is no evidence that CDC has moved to adopt the recommendations of these reports or to cure its problems in the vaccine division.

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Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is an attorney that specializes in environmental law. Follow him on Twitter at @RobertKennedyJr.

http://news.sciencemag.org/people-events/2014/03/top-u.s.-scientific-misconduct-official-quits-frustration-bureaucracy
http://ori.hhs.gov/meet-directors
David Wright vs Don Wright (confusing) US Office of Research Integrity

I know, I know, FIRESTORM, but ignoring this does not make any of it go away by any stretch.

[geek tragedy]

11. Anti-vaxxers who peddle the discredited lies of Andrew Wakefield are worse than the dumbest Birthers

You people are a public health menace.

[proverbialwisdom]

14. Nothing in your post is accurate, actually.

Please examine the evolution of the vaccine schedule. Please extrapolate future trends. Then carefully define your terms.

http://vec.chop.edu/service/vaccine-education-center/vaccine-schedule/history-of-vaccine-schedule.html

History of Vaccine Schedule
Reviewed by: Paul A. Offit, MD
Date: April 2013

http://www.fiercevaccines.com/story/look-late-stage-vaccine-pipeline/2010-11-11

A look at the late-stage vaccine pipeline
November 11, 2010 | By Maureen Martino

In 2009, the world market for preventive vaccines totaled $22.1 billion, up from $19.0 billion in 2008, and is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 9.7 percent to $35 billion in 2014. That's according to Kalorama Information, which has broken out a list of notable vaccines in late-stage development. Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi Pasteur, Pfizer and Novartis combined control 83.9 percent of the world market, with GSK being the biggest vaccine seller.

As of mid-2010, Kalorama estimates there are more than 200 pediatric vaccines and many more adult preventative vaccines in development, although most are at the earliest stages of the testing process.

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[geek tragedy]

15. Andrew Wakefield is a proven fraud. And anyone who disputes that is either insane or terminally

stupid, no matter how many garbage links they spam this forum with.

[proverbialwisdom]

17. Garbage links in your dreams, sorry.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/feedarticle/10131156
http://journals.lww.com/jpgn/Fulltext/1999/11000/A_Tribute_to_Professor_John_Walker_Smith,_ESPGHAN.6.aspx
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2012/503.html

Of course, world-renowned Dr. John Walker-Smith (widely credited with being the co-founder of the field of pediatric gastroenterology) was only the senior author on the retracted paper while Wakefield was the lead.

Why don't you engage John Stone on this matter. It's really in the weeds for the average reader, but UK's Stone is expert. Of course, feel free to go with Dr. Anne Schuchat (post 3). Whatever happened to her views since 2013? Closing ranks?

http://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/blog/anne-schuchat-slings-arrows-outrage-and-fortune

Anne Schuchat: Slings, Arrows, Outrage, and Fortune
February 28, 2013 Karie Youngdahl

...What works, then, in regard to high concern and outrage, is to listen to people and ask them what they are concerned about. It’s important to be open and honest about risks and about what you don’t know, as well as what you do know. Schuchat noted that it can be difficult for doctors to show and share emotions, because they are trained, in general, to moderate emotion.

And for the intelligent layperson, she should get comfortable with complexity, beware of absolutes, rely on reliable sources, remember that news outlets highlight extremes, and remember that anyone can create a website.

[geek tragedy]

19. Walker-Smith ended his career in disgrace, not renown.

"It had to decide what Professor Walker-Smith thought he was doing. If he believed he was undertaking research in the guise of clinical investigation and treatment, he deserved the finding that he had been guilty of serious professional misconduct and the sanction of erasure.

That, mind you, is from the judicial opinion in his favor.

You and David Irving should have a confab sometimes.

[Blue_Tires]

21. +1

[Bill USA]

18. one study will not have "earth-shattering consequences". It's results to have it duplicated by other

... studies before any new conclusions can be drawn. Here are some studies which confirm the conclusions that there is no connection between measles vaccination and autism...

107 studies that show no link between vaccines and autism

[proverbialwisdom]

20. Put a lid on it.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-resolution/117/cosponsors?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22vaccines+save+lives%22%5D%7D

H.Res.117 - Recognizing the importance of vaccinations and immunizations in the United States.
List of 93 co-sponsors

Sponsor: Rep. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA-28] (Introduced 02/13/2015)
Committees: House - Energy and Commerce
Latest Action: 02/13/2015 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

http://schiff.house.gov/press-releases/over-90-bipartisan-members-of-congress-introduce-vaccines-save-lives-house-resolution/

PRESS RELEASE: Over 90 Bipartisan Members of Congress Introduce "Vaccines Save Lives" House Resolution

Friday February 13, 2015

Washington, DC – Today, Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Charlie Dent (R-PA), Thomas Marino (R-PA), and Peter Welch (D-VT) introduced the bipartisan “Vaccines Save Lives” House Resolution with over 90 other Members of Congress. In the wake of the latest outbreak of measles in the United States, there has been a debate in the country over the safety of vaccines and whether parents should get their children vaccinated. The resolution is intended to highlight the public and global health achievements of vaccinations and immunizations around the world, and to urge vaccination. It recognizes the importance of vaccinations and immunizations in the U.S. as a matter of saving lives, stopping the spread of contagious and often fatal diseases, and maintaining the public health, economic and national security of the American people.

Additionally, the resolution states that there is no credible evidence to show that vaccines cause life-threatening or disabling diseases in healthy children or adults and commends the work of the international community and various domestic and global organizations that have worked to keep us all safe through vaccination. It encourages more research to improve existing vaccines and to create more vaccines to protect ourselves from other fatal and infectious diseases. Finally, it urges parents, in consultation with their health care provider, to follow the scientific consensus in favor of timely vaccination of their children.

“There’s no question that vaccines are safe, effective and critical to saving lives and creating a shared immunity in our communities and across the world,” said Rep. Adam Schiff. “With the latest measles outbreak in California and elsewhere, it’s more important than ever that children are vaccinated to prevent the spread of preventable and dangerous diseases -- including those that were previously eradicated. This bipartisan resolution recognizes the importance and scientific necessity of this life-saving medicine.”

“Vaccinations save lives. It is unconscionable that children are being put at risk because of decisions based on faulty information and untruths,” said Rep. Charlie Dent. “I believe it is important for Congress to speak out and assure Americans of not only the medical necessity of vaccinations, but also of their safety.”

"Recent outbreaks of measles have raised greater awareness about some serious public health issues we are have experienced. But we have the tools to prevent many of these diseases and outbreaks,” said Rep. Thomas Marino. “That prevention starts with individual and familial responsibility. This resolution simply states my colleagues and I support vaccinations for children so they can stay healthy and grow to fulfill their potential within our society - and it supports more research and more extensive efforts for outreach and awareness."

“Every parent’s first concern is the health and safety of their children,” said Rep. Peter Welch. “The recent measles outbreak is a stark reminder of how important it is that all parents vaccinate their children. Not doing so risks the health of their child and children in their community.”

This bipartisan legislation is endorsed by the American Medical Association (AMA), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA), and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).

The text of the resolution can be found here:

A resolution to recognize the importance of vaccinations and immunizations in the United States.

Whereas the contributions of Louis Pasteur and Edward Jenner to the discovery of the principles of vaccination and immunology are among the most consequential health findings in human history;

Whereas vaccines have made it possible for the world to have eradicated smallpox, saving approximately 5 million lives annually, and for the international community to be on the brink of eradicating polio and to have saved an estimated 5 million people from this incurable disease over the past 2 decades;

Whereas vaccines have dramatically reduced the spread of many more crippling and potentially life-threatening diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, measles, mumps, and rubella, and vaccines prevent the spread of commonly infectious and potentially fatal diseases such as chickenpox, shingles, influenza, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningococcal disease, pneumococcal, rotavirus, and whooping cough (pertussis);

Whereas the scientific and medical communities are in overwhelming consensus that vaccines are both effective and safe, and the dissemination of unfounded, and debunked, theories about the dangers of vaccinations pose a great risk to public health, and scientifically-sound education and outreach campaigns about vaccination and immunization are fundamental for a well-informed public;

Whereas an estimated 43,000 adults and 300 children die annually from vaccine-preventable diseases or their complications in the United States, and the health and livelihood of young children, seniors, individuals with immunodeficiency disorders, and those who cannot be vaccinated, is particularly compromised by communities with low vaccination rates;

Whereas substantial research has shown that vaccination is a highly cost-effective form of preventive medicine, and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that vaccinations will save nearly $295 billion in direct costs and $1.38 trillion in total societal costs in the United States;

Whereas it is estimated that vaccinations will prevent more than 21 million hospitalizations and 732,000 deaths among children born in the last 20 years, and that more than 100 million children all over the world are immunized each year and vaccines have saved an estimated 2.5 million children annually;

Whereas one in five children worldwide still lack access to even the most basic vaccines and as a result, an estimated 1.5 million children a year die from vaccine-preventable conditions such as diarrhea and pneumonia or suffer from permanently debilitating illnesses;

Whereas a strong investment in medical research to improve existing vaccines and develop many more life-saving vaccines is beneficial to all, both at home and abroad, and a robust immunization infrastructure is essential to the public health and well-being of the people of the United States by preventing and isolating outbreaks of contagious diseases where they start;

Whereas encouraging high vaccination rates in the United States protects our citizens from contracting vaccine-preventable diseases that are pandemic in countries with low vaccination and immunization rates;

Whereas routine and up-to-date immunization is the most effective method available to prevent the infection and transmission of potentially fatal diseases;

Whereas the United States has been a leader in promoting vaccinations around the world through U.S. Agency for International Development, the Center for Disease Control, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, UNICEF, the World Health Organization, and a host of other multilateral and non-governmental organizations;

Therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

(1) Commends the international community, global and domestic health organizations, the private sector, school and community leaders, and faith-based organizations for their tireless work and immense contributions to bolstering our global and domestic health through vaccination;

(2) Affirms vaccines and immunizations save lives and are essential to maintain the public health, economic and national security of the people of the United States;

(3) Recognizes that the lack of vaccination can cause a true public health crisis, and that there is no credible evidence to show that vaccines cause life-threatening or disabling diseases in healthy children or adults;

(4) Encourages a continued commitment to research to improve vaccines and to develop new vaccines against other infectious and fatal diseases, and

(5) Urges parents, in consultation with their health care provider, to follow the scientific evidence and consensus of medical experts in favor of timely vaccinations to protect their children and their community.