News & Views – Best Practices: Responding to Vaccine Deniers in Public
Published on in Vaccine Update for Healthcare Providers
Published on in Vaccine Update for Healthcare Providers
The European region office of the World Health Organization (WHO) recently published a useful 52-page guide for individuals confronted by a vaccine denier in a public situation. The guide, “How to respond to vocal vaccine deniers in public” is intended for health authorities; however, others may also benefit from some of the information presented.
The guide presents two important rules of thumb:
This approach will inform the audience, ultimately making them more resilient to misinformation. The guide summarizes the approach in a three-step process:
The Logical Fallacies Q&A shared in the May 2018 Vaccine Update can be helpful in the first step of this process.
Additional sections of the guide address the audience, speaker and argument before presenting information related to interview conditions, religious beliefs, figuring out whether or not to participate in a public discussion, and fake news. Some sections have useful lists and summaries. For example, the speaker section includes a series of verbal and nonverbal tips for becoming a good speaker, and the section about deciding to participate in a public discussion includes a flow chart.
See if you can identify the technique, topic and key message in the following examples presented in the guide:
Example 1. “This paper proves that 30% of people who are vaccinated against measles are not protected against the virus.”
Example 2. “I am not against vaccination, but I will not recommend it to anyone until it is 100% safe.”
Example 3. “Vaccines are unnatural and therefore unhealthy for a natural organism like the human being.”
Check your answers on page 30 of 53 in the PDF.
Contributed by: Charlotte A. Moser, MS, Paul A. Offit, MD
Categories: Vaccine Update June 2018, News and Views About Vaccines
Materials in this section are updated as new information and vaccines become available. The Vaccine Education Center staff regularly reviews materials for accuracy.
You should not consider the information in this site to be specific, professional medical advice for your personal health or for your family's personal health. You should not use it to replace any relationship with a physician or other qualified healthcare professional. For medical concerns, including decisions about vaccinations, medications and other treatments, you should always consult your physician or, in serious cases, seek immediate assistance from emergency personnel.