Taking a stand for children

preventable infectious diseases.

The film, which is touring New Zealand, is based on a debunked link between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR) and autism. It is directed by the author of the since retracted 1998 study, Andrew Wakefield, that wrongly made the link.

Wakefield’s medical licence has been revoked for ethics violations and financial conflicts of interest.

O’Sullivan was angry and delivered a blunt message at the screening that ‘‘your presence here will cause babies to die’’.

Later he said he had first-hand knowledge of the danger of the anti-vaccination movement, including holding a baby struggling to live, when a vaccination would have prevented the suffering.

Despite the retraction of the study, and the wide and deep body of evidence that vaccines are safe, there is a stubborn segment of the population that refuses to believe it. They have been fortified by the rise of the conspiracy theorist, alternative facts peddlers, and fake news merchants that have flourished with the internet’s growth. Suspicion of authority is one thing; refusal to believe medical experts with the best interests of children at heart is stupid and dangerous.

Unlike other conspiracies such as Barack Obama’s birth certificate, the misinformed opposition to vaccines has real life and death consequences.

The dangers of measles, for example, has faded from collective consciousness due to higher vaccination rates.

But it wasn’t that long ago, in 1991, that seven people died in New Zealand’s last large measles epidemic.

In 2011 measles outbreaks made hundreds ill. The Ministry of Health website has stories from those who did not immunise their children because of unfounded MMRfears, and almost paid a terrible price.

We need more people like Lance O’Sullivan to make a stand for knowledge and children’s health.