Persuading parents to choose vaccines
Illinois schools face more students unvaccinated against the measles than in recent years as a result of parental religious exemptions. I must admit that, as the head of an organization dedicated to ridding the world of polio, a vaccine-preventable disease, I am not surprised, as contentious discourse around vaccines has proliferated.
Perhaps vaccine debates continue, in part, due to the fact that many young parents simply don’t know anyone who has suffered the ravaging effects of a vaccinepreventable disease such as polio, a paralyzing illness parents were only too happy to consign to the past. Thanks, and only thanks, to the Salk and Sabin vaccines, polio hasn’t been seen in the U.S. since 1979.
That the fear of vaccines now to outweigh the real consequences of contracting a disease such as polio or measles is a testament to the possibility that vaccines have become victims of their own success.
To counter fear, global organizations, such as Rotary and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), must focus on engaging those who oppose vaccines in culturally relevant ways.
The GPEI quickly learned that the key to expanding the vaccination rate was building goodwill and trust, and began to implement strategies in polio-affected countries to increase vaccine acceptance among parents wary of the vaccine.
In the U.S., we have to find the solution to bring child immunization rates to levels that will protect herd immunity (the threshold when enough people in a community are vaccinated a disease to prevent its spread). While that solution will rely on tactics different from those used in countries such as Nigeria or Pakistan, there is a common need to find the right form of persuasion — one that is attuned to the mindset affecting vaccine-hesitant parents.
Although it is tempting to revert to shock tactics or righteous indignation when confronting parents who are jeopardizing public health, we should focus on empowering them to make better choices for themselves, their children and their society. Only then can we build the trust necessary to ensure vaccine acceptance.