Michael Gerson: A shot at hope

Jan 18th, 2011 4:18 PM UTC
By Malaka Gharib

By now, I’m sure you’ve heard that a recent study concluded that the connection between vaccines and autism was an elaborate fraud. For us here at ONE, supporting the widespread distribution of vaccines is a huge and important part of our fight against preventable diseases in Africa, so we were very excited to see that our ONE Fellow Michael Gerson wrote about the issue in an editorial for the Washington Post today. He argued that:

“Vaccines are among the greatest scientific contributions to human welfare. They are also some of the largest humanitarian contributions of developed nations to the rest of the world. So it is unfortunate that a decade of vaccine controversy has overshadowed a decade of vaccine miracles…

Many global problems are desperate but seem beyond our ability to comprehend or resolve. Sufficient support for GAVI from governments, foundations and individuals would solve much of the problem it is tackling. The answer for millions of dying children does not need to be invented, studied or tested. All this has already been done. Their hope lies within a locked room. And those with keys gain responsibilities.”

Read the full editorial in the Washington Post here. And if you have an extra moment, take a look at some of our vaccine videos on our Living Proof website.

TAGS: ONE, vaccines