Vaccine Safety Net

Last updated
Vaccine Safety Net
Formation2003
Legal statusNonprofit
PurposeTo provide reliable information on vaccine safety online
Membership (2021)
99 vaccine related websites
Parent organization
World Health Organization
Website Official website

Vaccine Safety Net (VSN) is a global network of websites aimed at helping people judge the quality of online information on vaccine safety. It was established in 2003 by the World Health Organization (WHO), which had previously set up the independent Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS), prompted by concern from public health officials regarding the dissemination of potentially harmful health information via the web. By appraising websites, using credibility and content criteria defined by GACVS, the VSN has been developed to deliver information that is easy to access and up-to-date. As of 2020, the initiative has 89 member sites in 40 countries and 35 languages.

Contents

Prior to inclusion in the list, each website is assessed for its credibility, accessibility, content and design. A peer-reviewed study of 26 websites listed by VSN in 2008 noted "the transparency of financing, the lack of links to the pharmaceutical industry, the transparency of site management and responsibility and the proven scientific quality and constant updating of contents" of its assessed resources. [1] [2]

Purpose

The WHO's VSN is a "trusted" website for reliable vaccine related sources. [3] The purpose of the VSN is to evaluate the variable reliability of on-line vaccine related information and address concerns caused by websites which circulate partially complete or misleading content, including speculative rumours or falsified research, which may consequently damage vaccination programmes. [4] It aims to regularly review the vaccine related content disseminated on-line by different health-related organizations around the world, thereby validating them by including them on their list as websites that observe "good information practices". [2] [5] [6]

History and membership

In developed countries, more than 90% of young people use the internet regularly, running the potential for misinformation related to vaccination reaching a large proportion of society. [7] This has also been challenging in low and middle income countries. [8] In 1999, concern from public health officials regarding the dissemination of potentially harmful health information via the web led the WHO to establish the 'Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety' (GACVS), the purpose of which is to deliver an assembly of independent professionals that can advise both the public and those involved in national vaccine policy, after assessing evidence pertaining to vaccine safety concerns that require a quick and impactful response. [9] [10] In 2003, the WHO created the VSN, devised to "help counteract misinformation about vaccines" and deliver easily accessible information to up-to-date accurate evidence, by appraising websites that provide material on vaccination. [8] [10] The credibility and content criteria are defined by GACVS. [10] [11] As a result, the reliability and standards set by WHO's GACVS and available at VSN has been created to help people judge the quality of the website information they read. [7]

In the year of its creation, the VSN approved 23 websites as members in languages including English, French, Dutch, Italian, German and Spanish. [11] [12] In March 2009, the VSN listed a total of 29 websites that had been approved as containing "sound and credible" vaccine safety information. [13] As of 2021 the initiative has 98 member sites in 42 countries and 36 languages. [14]

Recommendations of good practice for vaccine websites are published by the WHO's GACVS. Some member sites refer to their inclusion in the VSN list as a kind of quality certification. [1]

Members

Websites are included to the VSN list following evaluation of their credibility, accessibility, content and design. [1] [2] As listed on the official website, [15] there are currently 99 members which include:

Evaluation

In 2008 a peer-reviewed study of 26 websites included in the VSN list by April 2007 noted "the transparency of financing, the lack of links to the pharmaceutical industry, the transparency of site management and responsibility and the proven scientific quality and constant updating of contents" of its assessed resources, unlike websites critical of vaccination. [1] [2] 84.6% of sites recorded contact details, 73.1% noted which data protection procedure they used and that the data would not be sold or forwarded to third parties. Most sites used English. About one in five provided contact details of vaccination centres and 63.6% of sites were targeted at the general public and health care professionals. 84.6% of sites were quoted as having information on side effects. [1] [2]

In 2017 the VSN's Web Analytics Project (VSN-WAP) was launched to evaluate the behaviour of people using websites listed at VSN. [18]

Media

Misinformation about vaccines is a concern for the VSN, especially on social media. In 2019, the social media platform Pinterest partnered with the VSN to address the issue. [19] VSN is consistently listed by publications as a source for battling misinformation about vaccinations. [20] [21]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaccination</span> Administration of a vaccine to protect against disease

Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating the body's adaptive immunity, they help prevent sickness from an infectious disease. When a sufficiently large percentage of a population has been vaccinated, herd immunity results. Herd immunity protects those who may be immunocompromised and cannot get a vaccine because even a weakened version would harm them. The effectiveness of vaccination has been widely studied and verified. Vaccination is the most effective method of preventing infectious diseases; widespread immunity due to vaccination is largely responsible for the worldwide eradication of smallpox and the elimination of diseases such as polio and tetanus from much of the world. However, some diseases, such as measles outbreaks in America, have seen rising cases due to relatively low vaccination rates in the 2010s – attributed, in part, to vaccine hesitancy. According to the World Health Organization, vaccination prevents 3.5–5 million deaths per year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaccine hesitancy</span> Reluctance or refusal to be vaccinated or have ones children vaccinated

Vaccine hesitancy is a delay in acceptance, or refusal, of vaccines despite the availability of vaccine services and supporting evidence. The term covers refusals to vaccinate, delaying vaccines, accepting vaccines but remaining uncertain about their use, or using certain vaccines but not others. The scientific consensus that vaccines are generally safe and effective is overwhelming. Vaccine hesitancy often results in disease outbreaks and deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases. Therefore, the World Health Organization characterizes vaccine hesitancy as one of the top ten global health threats.

The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), founded under the name Dissatisfied Parents Together (DPT) in 1982, is an American 501(c)(3) organization that has been widely criticized as a leading source of fearmongering and misinformation about vaccines. While NVIC describes itself as the "oldest and largest consumer-led organization advocating for the institution of vaccine safety and informed consent protections", it promotes false and misleading information including the discredited claim that vaccines cause autism, and its campaigns portray vaccination as risky, encouraging people to consider "alternatives." In April 2020, the organization was identified as one of the greatest disseminators of COVID-19 misinformation on Facebook.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Mercola</span> American alternative medicine proponent and purveyor of anti-vaccination misinformation

Joseph Michael Mercola is an American alternative medicine proponent, osteopathic physician, and Internet business personality. He markets largely unproven dietary supplements and medical devices. On his website, Mercola and colleagues advocate unproven and pseudoscientific alternative health notions including homeopathy and opposition to vaccination. These positions have received persistent criticism. Mercola is a member of several alternative medicine organizations as well as the political advocacy group Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, which promotes scientifically discredited views about medicine and disease. He is the author of two books.

A vaccine adverse event (VAE), sometimes referred to as a vaccine injury, is an adverse event believed to have been caused by vaccination. The World Health Organization (WHO) knows VAEs as Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI).

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is a committee within the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that provides advice and guidance on effective control of vaccine-preventable diseases in the U.S. civilian population. The ACIP develops written recommendations for routine administration of vaccines to the pediatric and adult populations, along with vaccination schedules regarding appropriate timing, dosage, and contraindications of vaccines. ACIP statements are official federal recommendations for the use of vaccines and immune globulins in the U.S., and are published by the CDC.

The National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), formerly known as the National Immunization Program until April 2006, is charged with responsibility for the planning, coordination, and conduct of immunization activities in the United States. NCIRD is a part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, located in Atlanta, Georgia, and housed in the CDC's Coordinating Center for Infectious Diseases (CCID). The National Center for Immunization provides consultation, training, statistical, promotional, educational, epidemiological, and technical services to assist state and local health departments across the US in planning, developing, contracting and implementing immunization programs.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is an independent expert advisory committee that advises United Kingdom health departments on immunisation, making recommendations concerning vaccination schedules and vaccine safety. It has a statutory role in England and Wales, and health departments in Scotland and Northern Ireland may choose to accept its advice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tetanus vaccine</span> Vaccines used to prevent tetanus

Tetanus vaccine, also known as tetanus toxoid (TT), is a toxoid vaccine used to prevent tetanus. During childhood, five doses are recommended, with a sixth given during adolescence.

Warnings About Vaccination Expectations NZ (WAVESnz), formerly the Immunisation Awareness Society (IAS), is a New Zealand anti-vaccination lobby group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Rivers Vaccination Supporters</span> Organization

The Northern Rivers Vaccination Supporters (NRVS) is a vaccination advocacy group formed in 2013 by people who were concerned about low vaccination rates in the Northern Rivers region of the Australian state of New South Wales. Rachel Heap, one of the group's core administrators, has said the organization's primary goal is to spread the word that people shouldn't be afraid of vaccines, but instead, "you should be amazed at how extraordinary they are as a public health measure".

National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) is an advisory committee consisting of multidisciplinary groups of experts responsible for providing information to national governments that is used to make evidence-based decisions regarding vaccine and immunization policy. The majority of industrialized and some developing countries have formally established advisory committees to guide immunization policies; other countries are working towards establishment of such committees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaccine Choice Canada</span> Canadian anti-vaccination group

Vaccine Choice Canada (VCC) is Canada's main anti-vaccination group. It was founded in the 1980s under the name Vaccination Risk Awareness Network (VRAN) and adopted its current name in 2014. The group has been contributing to vaccine hesitancy in Canada, encouraging citizens to forgo immunization and legislators to support anti-vaccine regulations and legislation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immunization Action Coalition</span> Organization providing vaccination information

The Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) is an organization that distributes information about vaccines and the diseases they prevent. In partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), their headquarters is located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, with member coalitions in the United States and Canada. Paul Offit serves on the Advisory board.

The Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS) is a group of experts that provides independent and authoritative guidance to the World Health Organization (WHO) on the topic of safe vaccine use.

The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) is the principal advisory group to World Health Organization (WHO) for vaccines and immunization. Established in 1999 through the merging of two previous committees, notably the Scientific Advisory Group of Experts and the Global Advisory Group by Director-General of the WHO Gro Harlem Brundtland. It is charged with advising WHO on overall global policies and strategies, ranging from vaccines and biotechnology, research and development, to delivery of immunization and its linkages with other health interventions. SAGE is concerned not just with childhood vaccines and immunization, but all vaccine-preventable diseases. SAGE provide global recommendations on immunization policy and such recommendations will be further translated by advisory committee at the country level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HPV Prevention and Control Board</span>

The HPV Prevention and Control Board, founded in 2015, is an independent group of international experts supported by unrestricted grants from the pharmaceutical industry that bring together key professionals, groups and government officials to deal with issues related to screening and prevention programmes for human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, the persistence of which may lead to cervical cancer, the second most common cancer in women living in low-resource settings. The Board focusses on preventing cervical cancer in these countries by promoting the sharing of information on cervical screening and HPV vaccination, which by 2014 had reached only around 3% of eligible girls in low income countries.

Helen Aspasia Petousis-Harris is a New Zealand vaccinologist and associate professor in the Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care at the University of Auckland. She has been involved in research related to vaccination in New Zealand since 1998, with her main areas of focus being vaccine safety and effectiveness. Petousis-Harris has had a variety of lead roles in New Zealand and international organisations that focus on vaccination and is a regular media spokesperson in this field, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Misinformation related to immunization and the use of vaccines circulates in mass media and social media in spite of the fact that there is no serious hesitancy or debate within mainstream medical and scientific circles about the benefits of vaccination. Unsubstantiated safety concerns related to vaccines are often presented on the internet as being scientific information. A high proportion of internet sources on the topic are "inaccurate on the whole" which can lead people searching for information to form "significant misconceptions about vaccines".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-vaccine activism</span>

Anti-vaccine activism, also called the "anti-vax" movement, is organized activity designed to increase vaccine hesitancy, often by disseminating misinformation or disinformation. Although myths, conspiracy theories, misinformation and disinformation spread by the anti-vaccination movement and fringe doctors increases vaccine hesitancy and public debates around the medical, ethical, and legal issues related to vaccines, there is no serious hesitancy or debate within mainstream medical and scientific circles about the benefits of vaccination.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Martínez-Mora, Marta; Álvarez-Pasquín, María José; Rodríguez-Salvanés, Francisco (9 December 2008). "Vaccines and Internet: Characteristics of the Vaccine Safety Net Web sites and suggested improvements" . Vaccine. 26 (52): 6950–6955. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2008.09.093. PMID   18951940.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Berman, David M.; Dees, Paola (2013). "22. Vaccines and the Internet". In Archana Chatterjee (ed.). Vaccinophobia and Vaccine Controversies of the 21st Century. New York: Springer. p. 409. ISBN   978-1-4614-7437-1.
  3. ↑ Gesualdo, Francesco; Bucci, Lucie M.; Rizzo, Caterina; Tozzi, Alberto E. (25 March 2021). "Digital tools, multidisciplinarity and innovation for communicating vaccine safety in the COVID-19 era". Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics. 18 (1): 1–4. doi: 10.1080/21645515.2020.1865048 . ISSN   2164-5515. PMC   8920147 . PMID   33764272.
  4. ↑ "5.3. Regional and international awareness and collaboration". CIOMS Guide to Active Vaccine Safety Surveillance; Report by Topic Group 3 of the CIOMS Working Group on Vaccine Safety (PDF). Geneva, Switzerland: Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS). 2018. p. 51. ISBN   978-92-9036091-9.
  5. ↑ "Check the source: WHO-validated websites provide trustworthy information on vaccine safety". www.who.int. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  6. ↑ Idzikowski, Lisa (2019). "1. Pay attention to facts, not myths, about vaccines". Vaccination. Greenhaven Publishing LLC. p. 13. ISBN   978-1-5345-0630-5.
  7. 1 2 Tenkate, Thomas; Fleming, Mary Louise; Fitzgerald, Gerry (2015). "11. Disease control and management". In Mary Louise Fleming (ed.). Introduction to Public Health. Elizabeth Parker. Elsevier. p. 248. ISBN   978-0-7295-4203-6.
  8. 1 2 Asturias, Edwin J.; Wharton, Melinda; Pless, Robert; MacDonald, Noni E.; Chen, Robert T.; Andrews, Nicholas; Salisbury, David; Dodoo, Alexander N.; Hartigan-Go, Kenneth; Zuber, Patrick L.F. (17 June 2016). "Contributions and challenges for worldwide vaccine safety: The Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety at 15 years". Vaccine. 34 (29): 3342–3349. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2016.05.018. ISSN   0264-410X. PMC   5085263 . PMID   27195758.
  9. ↑ "WHO | The Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety". WHO. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  10. 1 2 3 "WHO | Vaccine Safety Net". WHO. Archived from the original on June 9, 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  11. 1 2 Miller, E.; Stowe, J. (2012). "13. Vaccine Safety Surveillance". In John Talbot (ed.). Stephens' Detection and Evaluation of Adverse Drug Reactions: Principles and Practice. Jeffrey K. Aronson (6th ed.). Wiley Blackwell. p. 620. ISBN   978-1-119-95210-7.
  12. ↑ Canadian immunization guide. Public Health Agency of Canada. 2006. pp. 69–70. ISBN   978-0-660-19392-2.
  13. ↑ Maurice, J. M.; Davey, Sheila; World Health Organization (2009). "3. Immunization: putting vaccines into good use". State of the World's Vaccines and Immunization (3rd ed.). World Health Organization. p. 68. ISBN   978-92-4-156386-4.
  14. ↑ "Vaccine Safety Net". 28 August 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-08-28. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  15. ↑ "Vaccine Safety Net: Members". Vaccine Safety Net. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  16. ↑ "WHO | Vaccine Confidence ProjectTM". WHO. Archived from the original on April 24, 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  17. ↑ "Health Feedback". Vaccine Safety Net. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  18. ↑ Gesualdo, Francesco; Marino, Francesco; Mantero, Jas; Spadoni, Andrea; Sambucini, Luigi; Quaglia, Giammarco; Rizzo, Caterina; Sahinovic, Isabelle; Zuber, Patrick L. F.; Tozzi, Alberto E.; VSN-WAP study group (9 August 2020). "The use of web analytics combined with other data streams for tailoring online vaccine safety information at global level: The Vaccine Safety Net's web analytics project". Vaccine. 38 (41): 6418–6426. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.07.070 . ISSN   1873-2518. PMID   32788137.
  19. ↑ "Pinterest to push vaccine searches to health sites". BBC News . 29 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  20. ↑ Flower, Tracey (17 May 2017). "Health: Vaccines rigorously tested for side effects before coming to market". www.summitdaily.com. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
  21. ↑ Leask, Julie; Steffens, Maryke (20 October 2019). "4 ways to talk with vaccine skeptics". The Conversation. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
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