Inoculate yourself with knowledge. Immunize yourself against unverified information

The number of parents who consciously resign from vaccinating their children increases every year. According to the data of the Main Sanitary Inspectorate,

in 2014 over 12 000 children, i.e. over 40% more than the previous year, were not vaccinated. The decisions of not having children vaccinated are taken on the grounds of not scientifically verified information, such as anonymous entries in the Internet, publications based on myths, emotions and inclinations to repeat unreliable opinions.

The organizers of the newly-started Inoculate Yourself with Knowledge nation-wide information campaign herald their fight against unreliable source of knowledge.

Their main tool is a friendly website www.zaszczepsiewiedza.pl, where everyone facing a decision “to vaccinate or not to vaccinate” can find verified sources of knowledge related to vaccine and vaccinations. These are the materials prepared by both eminent experts as well as recommendations of institutes that have dealt with infectious diseases and vaccinology.

– The issue of vaccines is extremely important as it refers to all of us. It requires reliability to face numerous myths or stereotypes that are frequently based on emotions, says dr hab. nauk med. Ernest Kuchar, the specialist in paediatrics and internal diseases who supports the campaign and who for years has been fighting with medical myths.

The rapid growth of people consciously refusing vaccinations worries doctors who express their univocal opinion in that matter, i.e. ignoring vaccinations is tantamount with return of infectious diseases that decimated people even at the first half of 20^th century. We need to remember that an infectious disease constitute not only the risk of death but also of serious complications, warns dr n. med. Iwona Paradowska – Stankiewicz, National Consultant for epidemiology, National Institute of Public Health – PZH.

Undeniably immunizations are the biggest success of medicine in the human history. Thanks to them the infections caused such serious infectious diseases as measles, diphtheria, polio or tuberculosis was eliminated or their number was decreased. The introduction of compulsory immunizations resulted in longer and healthier life that we can enjoy. A person born in Europe in 1900 could hope for on average 43 years of life. His ancestor born in 2014 can even live up to 80! It’s thanks to the development of medicine that the average length of life has been significantly lengthen, says Paweł Sztwiertnia, the Director General of  the Employers’ Association of Innovative Pharmaceutical Companies INFARMA, – Today this output is groundlessly questioned, particularly as regards immunizations are concerned – he adds.

This campaign is organized under the substantial auspices of:  National Institute of Public Health – National Institute of Hygiene, Children’s Memorial Health Institute, Polskie Towarzystwo Higienicznego