Vaccines – giving our children the best possible protection

Compulsory vaccination, which will come into force in France on January 1, 2018, is giving rise to much public debate and concern. Several false claims are currently being spread, suggesting that vaccines are dangerous and contesting the role of vaccination as a vital tool for public health.
 
In light of these rumors, Alain Fischer, a pediatrician, immunologist and coordinator of the public consultation on vaccination, and Philippe Sansonetti, an infectious disease specialist, microbiologist, Head of the Molecular Microbial Pathogenesis Unit and author of Vaccines – both Professors at the Collège de France –, have joined forces in a bid to raise awareness about all aspects of vaccination. To help them with this task, they have called on a number of university colleagues, biologists, biostatistics experts, human scientists, physicians, public health experts and economists – on an informal basis and not related to any pressure groups or lobbies. All of these experts firmly believe in the need to make sure the that public debate is informed by scientific truth and that the importance of preventing infectious diseases is clearly emphasized. Their aim is to help restore confidence in vaccination by providing citizens with objective information and improving expertise among healthcare professionals.

In connection with this initiative, a press conference will be held today under the auspices of Paris Descartes University, in partnership with the Institut Pasteur, Inserm and the AP-HP and attended by guest of honor Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, co-discoverer of HIV and 2008 laureate of the Nobel Prize in Medicine.

Go to the press kit (in French)