Anti-vaccination movements in the world and in Brazil

ABSTRACT Over the years, vaccinations have provided significant advances in public health, because they substantially reduce the morbimortality of vaccine-preventable diseases. Nevertheless, many people are still hesitant to be vaccinated. Brazil is a region of many anti-vaccine movements, and several outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, such as yellow fever and measles, have occurred in the country during the last few years. To avoid new outbreaks, immunization coverage must be high; however, this is a great challenge to achieve due to the countless anti-vaccine movements. The World Health Organization has suggested new actions for the next decade via the Immunization Agenda 2030 to control, reduce, or eradicate vaccine-preventable diseases. Nonetheless, the vaccination coverage has decreased recently. To resolve the anti-vaccine issue, it is necessary to propose a long-term approach that involves innovative education programs on immunization and critical thinking, using different communication channels, including social media. Cooperation among biology and health scientists, ethicists, human scientists, policymakers, journalists, and civil society is essential for an in-depth understanding of the social action of vaccine refusal and planning effective education measures to increase the vaccine coverage.

摘要 多年来，疫苗接种为公共卫生事业带来了显著进展，因其可大幅降低疫苗可预防疾病（vaccine-preventable diseases）的发病率与死亡率。尽管如此，仍有大量民众对接种疫苗持犹豫态度。巴西是反疫苗运动频发的地区，近数年间该国先后暴发了黄热病、麻疹等多起疫苗可预防疾病疫情。为避免新一轮疫情出现，免疫接种覆盖率必须维持在较高水平；然而，受反疫苗运动层出不穷的影响，达成这一目标面临巨大挑战。世界卫生组织（World Health Organization, WHO）通过《2030年免疫议程》提出了未来十年的行动新方案，旨在控制、减少乃至消除疫苗可预防疾病。但近期疫苗接种覆盖率却出现了下滑态势。为破解反疫苗难题，亟需提出一套长效策略：依托包括社交媒体在内的多元传播渠道，开展免疫接种知识与批判性思维相关的创新教育项目。生物学与健康科学研究者、伦理学家、人文社科研究者、政策制定者、新闻工作者以及公民社会之间的协同合作，对于深入解析疫苗拒接行为的社会逻辑、制定有效教育举措以提升疫苗接种覆盖率至关重要。