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WHO criticizes new US child vaccination policies as unscientific
🇲🇽 Mexico /Health & Science

WHO criticizes new US child vaccination policies as unscientific

From El Universal · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • The World Health Organization (WHO) director-general criticized new U.S. policies that reduce recommended childhood vaccinations, calling them inconsistent with scientific evidence.
  • The U.S. executive order narrows the number of diseases covered by federal recommendations and shifts some vaccines to risk-based or shared decision-making categories.
  • WHO warns that delaying or separating vaccine doses can leave children unprotected and questions the political influence behind the policy changes.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has sharply criticized new U.S. health policies that significantly reduce the number of recommended childhood vaccinations, stating they are "not in line with decades of scientific evidence."

Vaccination policy must be guided by a rigorous, independent, and transparent review of the best available scientific evidence, and not by political influence.

— Tedros Adhanom GhebreyesusThe WHO Director-General stated his concern about the basis of the new U.S. vaccination policies.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus took to social media to express concern, emphasizing that vaccination policies should be driven by rigorous, independent scientific review, not political influence. The new U.S. policy, stemming from an executive order, reduces the diseases covered by federal recommendations from 18 to 11. It also reclassifies vaccines for influenza, COVID-19, hepatitis A and B, rotavirus, and meningitis under risk-based criteria or shared decision-making between parents and doctors, while mandating a review of the federal vaccination schedule.

Tedros highlighted that these changes disregard crucial scientific findings regarding children's vulnerability to diseases, optimal timing for vaccine efficacy, necessary dosage, and safe co-administration of vaccines. "Delaying vaccines or unnecessarily separating doses does not make vaccination safer, and can leave children unprotected," he warned. The WHO chief also noted that the U.S. government had withdrawn from the agency this year.

Delaying vaccines or unnecessarily separating doses does not make vaccination safer, and can leave children unprotected.

— Tedros Adhanom GhebreyesusTedros warned about the potential consequences of the reduced vaccination schedule.

The article links the U.S. policy shift to President Donald Trump's unsubstantiated claims about a link between vaccines and autism, despite extensive research finding no causal relationship. Public health experts are concerned about a potential resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases, particularly as the U.S. has already seen a significant increase in measles cases this year. The WHO's critique underscores a global consensus on the importance of comprehensive childhood immunization based on robust scientific data.

Every parent wants to keep their children safe, and vaccines are among the most powerful tools for doing that, making deadly diseases preventable.

— Tedros Adhanom GhebreyesusThe WHO chief affirmed the critical role of vaccines in child safety.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El Universal in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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