Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Anti-Vaccination Movement May Seem Rooted In Social Media, But Following The Money Paints A Different Picture
A wealthy Manhattan couple has emerged as significant financiers of the anti-vaccine movement, contributing more than $3 million in recent years to groups that stoke fears about immunizations online and at live events including two forums this year at the epicenter of measles outbreaks in New Yorks ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. Hedge fund manager and philanthropist Bernard Selz and his wife, Lisa, have long donated to organizations focused on the arts, culture, education and the environment. But seven years ago, their private foundation embraced a very different cause: groups that question the safety and effectiveness of vaccines. (Sun and Brittain, 6/19)
Declining confidence in government institutions is feeding a growing mistrust of vaccination around the world, according to a report out today based on the largest global survey of attitudes in science and health. The Wellcome Trust report, which relies on 2018 interviews with at least 1,000 people in each of 142 countries, shows that income inequality, lower education levels and lack of confidence in government contribute to mistrust of science. At the same time, high percentages of people in almost every country trust doctors and nurses. (Allen, 6/19)
In other news on vaccinations
Residents are getting their first chance to weigh in on a revised California measure giving state public health officials oversight of doctors who grant over five vaccination medical exemptions annually vaccinations and schools with vaccination rates less than 95%. Thursday's Assembly committee hearing is expected to draw hundreds of people against vaccines to the Capitol. (Thompson, 6/20)
Presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, an author and self-help guru who will appear on the Democratic debate stage next week, apologized Wednesday night after she attacked mandatory vaccinations as draconian and Orwellian at a Manchester, N.H., event. To me, its no different than the abortion debate, Williamson said at the event, according to a tweet from an NBC News reporter. The U.S. government doesnt tell any citizen, in my book, what they have to do with their body or their child. (Pearce, 6/19)
