Questions regarding the Vaccine Resistance Network Event @SFU on March 12

[Anke Kessler <akessler@sfu.ca>]

Dear all, 

I don't ordinarily write in this forum, but I feel the need to alert the academic community at SFU to an event that our institution is hosting on March 12 at SFU Harbour Centre, see

http://vaccineresistancemovement.org/ 


To be sure, I am not a medical expert. But as a mother of three young children I educated myself on the science (and pseudo-science) of vaccinations. My understanding is that the scientific consensus in the medical community has been that vaccines are safe, effective, and necessary. As an economist, I also know all about positive externalities - indeed, vaccines are one of the prime example I use in class to explain the vast welfare gains that can be achieved, at very low cost, if significant externalities are present. 

Sadly, the impact of the anti-vaccination movement has been significant. In 2010, California suffered a deadly outbreak of whooping cough. Measles and mumps have also made a comeback although vaccines are available. It is largely agreed that the root cause of these epidemics can be traced to groups insisting that vaccines are harmful (despite evidence to the contrary). The death toll in the US due to vaccine-resistance has been estimated to be in the 1000s. 

Here's a recent article in Slate about the whooping cough epidemic in the US, and how it is partly related to low vaccination rates

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2013/02/pertussis_epidemic_how_vermont_s_anti_vaxxer_activists_stopped_a_vaccine.html

I would like to know what SFU event planners were thinking when invite a group like this, and - by hosting the event on a university campus - allow the organizers to associate themselves with our academic/scientific community. 

To be sure, free speech is important, and groups like these should be able to freely send their message out to the public. But do we really have to give a platform like SFU for their agenda?

I am not sure. 

Sincerely, 


Anke Kessler
Department of Economics
Simon Fraser University

akessler@sfu.ca
+1-778-782-3443