Vaccination Acceptance

Immunization represents one of the greatest public health achievements. Vaccines save lives, make communities more productive and strengthen health systems. They are critical to attaining the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Vaccination also represents value for investment in public health. It is undisputedly one of the most cost-effective ways of avoiding disease, each year preventing 2-3 million deaths globally.*

We the concerned scientists, public health professionals, physicians, and child health advocates issue this Salzburg Statement along with the International Working Group on  Vaccination and Public Health Solutions, proclaiming our unwavering commitment to universal childhood vaccination, and our pledge to support the development, testing, implementation, and evaluation of new,  effective, and fact-based communication programs. Our goal is to explain vaccinations to parents or caregivers, answer their  questions, address their concerns, and main-tain public confidence in the personal, family and community protection that childhood vaccines provide.

Every effort will also be made to communicate the dangers associated with these childhood illnesses to parents and communities since this information seems to have been lost in the present-day narrative.

While vaccine misinformation has led to serious declines in community vaccination rates that require immediate attention, in other communities, particularly in low-income countries,  issues such as lack of access and unstable supply of vaccines need to be addressed.

Download the full Statement in English

If you would like to reference this Salzburg Statement in a publication, please use the following citation:

Ratzan S.C. et.al. Salzburg Statement on Vaccination Acceptance Journal of Health Communication.  24:5, 581-583, July 2, 2019 and Salzburg Global Seminar salzburgglobal.org/go/statements/vaccinationacceptance

References

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2018. Pinkbook | Measles | Epidemiology of Vaccine Preventable Diseases | CDC. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/meas.html. [Accessed 29 May 2019].

NCBI Home. 2017. Vaccine Rejection and Hesitancy: A Review and Call to Action. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5597904/. [Accessed 29 May 2019].

The Lancet. 2017. Measles. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(17)31463-0/fulltext. [Accessed 29 May 2019].

UNICEF. 2019. UNICEF launches #VaccinesWork campaign to inspire support for vaccines. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.unicef.org/armenia/en/press-releases/unicef-launches-vaccineswork-campaign-inspire-support-vaccines. [Accessed 29 May 2019].

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World Health Organization. 2018. 10 facts on immunization. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.who.int/features/factfiles/immunization/en/. [Accessed 29 May 2019].

World Health Organization. 2018. WHO | 9 in 10 infants worldwide received vaccinations in 2017. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.who.int/immunization/newsroom/2018_infants_worldwide_vaccinations/en/. [Accessed 29 May 2019].

World Health Organization. 2019. Measles. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/measles. [Accessed 29 May 2019].

World Health Organization. 2019. Smallpox. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.who.int/csr/disease/smallpox/en/. [Accessed 29 May 2019].

World Health Organization. 2019. Ten threats to global health in 2019. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.who.int/emergencies/ten-threats-to-global-health-in-2019. [Accessed 29 May 2019].

World Health Organization. 2019. WHO/Europe | Media centre - Measles in Europe: record number of both sick and immunized. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.euro.who.int/en/media-centre/sections/press-releases/2019/measles-in-europe-record-number-of-both-sick-and-immunized. [Accessed 29 May 2019].