The war on vaccine safety rhetoric just got more intense in Australia. The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Authority [Ahpra] is warning the country’s medical professionals not to dissent on vaccine safety messaging. The group says that medical professionals have an obligation to promote the idea that vaccines are safe and effective.
The group is using 35,204 confirmed cases of flu as their reasoning for issuing the harsh statement. GlaxoSmithKline is importing high volumes of measles vaccines to deal with new cases. There are a total of 83 new measles cases reported in Australia this year.
Martin Fletcher, Ahpra chief executive, says he’s worried that chiropractors, doctors, and nurses, are enabling anti-vaccination views on social media. Ahpra is asking the public to turn in non-compliant medical professionals so that officials can open investigations.
“We take seriously any case of practitioners spreading dangerous and misleading anti-vaccination information including on social media,” he said via the guardian. “They will face regulatory action or prosecution. We are asking the public to tell us if their practitioner is doing this. If you raise your concerns with us we can investigate and protect others.”
However, Australia’s new measles cases are being blamed on the “undervaccinated” rather than local anti-vaccine movements. For many, this issue has little to do with perceived health implications of vaccines and more to do with parental rights. Many parents who vaccinate their children oppose Australia’s stringent vaccine laws and censorship agenda.
Activists groups and parents who support parental medical rights are outraged by Ahpra’s statement. But Australian officials are likely to continue to defy any public outcry over parental rights. The country has a long history of subverting its citizen’s rights. All citizens were disarmed beginning in 1996.
