25 April 2017 - Immunisation has helped us to bring some major human diseases under control - smallpox, diphtheria, tetanus, yellow fever, whooping cough, polio, and measles – to name a few. 

Worldwide, vaccines are saving the lives of approximately nine million people every year, more than the whole population of Austria. Today, no child in Europe has to die from formerly common childhood diseases.

But we observe an increasing lack of trust in public health institutions, scientists and scientific knowledge itself in Europe and beyond. The main reason is fear, caused by unreliable sources of information and influencers that ignore solid scientific evidence.

Fear is not the only factor. People seem to have forgotten the dreadful consequences of some of the vaccine-preventable diseases.

Read EMA press release