CEO DATELINE - Health groups seek to reassure Trump on vaccine safety
CEO DATELINE - Health groups seek to reassure Trump on vaccine safety
- February 9, 2017 |
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Walt Williams
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More than 350 state and national health care industry organizations have signed a letter vouching for the safety of vaccines in an effort to persuade President Donald Trump not to cloud the issue further.
Trump has been a proponent of the discredited link between vaccines and autism. The president alarmed many health professionals when he met with another vaccine skeptic, Robert Kennedy Jr., in January. Kennedy said Trump asked him to head a special committee to investigate vaccine safety. The administration later said no decisions had been made and the committee would likely focus on autism.
In their letter to Trump, the organizations noted vaccines eradicated smallpox worldwide and eliminated polio from the Western Hemisphere. Vaccines currently prevent the deaths of 2.5 million children annually, including 42,000 early deaths in the U.S. alone.
The groups also pointed out that a huge body of medical literature exists showing vaccines are safe. They attached a lengthy list of those studies to the letter.
"Delaying vaccines only leaves our nation's citizens at risk of disease, particularly children," the groups said. "As a nation we should double our efforts to make needed investments in patient and family education about the importance of vaccines in order to increase the rate of vaccination among all populations."
Signatories include the American Association of Immunologists, American Medical Association, American Nurses Association, American Psychological Association and Association of American Medical Colleges. http://wapo.st/2k71eMO
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