Avoid giving biased information about expanded immunization

Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department Truong Minh Tuan has just issued a document requesting news agencies to avoid making hasty, subjective, one-sided comments and inferences, especially sensational headlines and articles on the expanded vaccination work.

Medical staff vaccinate children. Photo: VNA

According to Mr. Tuan, during the implementation of the Expanded Immunization Program, from late 2012 to early 2013, there were a number of cases of severe reactions leading to death after Quinvaxem vaccination, neonatal hepatitis B...

Through inspection, the Ministry of Health has determined that the cause of death after vaccination was not due to the vaccine. In fact, in recent times, there have been some cases of children showing signs of fussiness, pain and swelling at the injection site, fever; especially some cases of cyanosis, convulsions, and difficulty breathing that have been monitored, cared for, and treated promptly.

The Ministry of Health determined that these are common reactions after Quinvaxem vaccination, and these reactions are within the statistical limits of the World Health Organization.

Assessing the information work, Mr. Tuan said that in recent times, the press agencies have promptly reported on vaccination activities and the benefits of vaccination, helping people understand the meaning and importance of the Expanded Immunization Program.

However, in the face of some children dying after vaccination, some newspapers and radio stations have reported speculative and inaccurate comments, causing confusion among the public and anxiety when taking their children for vaccination.

To avoid negative impacts on public opinion and towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, the Central Propaganda Department requests the Party Committee of Information and Communications; the Vietnam Journalists Association; the Propaganda Departments of provincial and municipal Party Committees and press agencies to closely coordinate with the health sector to provide complete and objective information on vaccination work in order to properly orient public opinion.

In addition, the above units provide information on the responsibilities and activities of the health sector in ensuring vaccination safety for people to cooperate in implementation.

In case of serious incidents, especially deaths during vaccination, the above units need to grasp the actual situation, analyze the true nature of the incident and report objectively and accurately.

In particular, news agencies need to avoid making hasty, subjective comments and inferences, especially sensational headlines and articles that have a negative impact on the community, causing public outrage in society, and affecting the psychology of parents in taking their children for vaccination.

The Central Propaganda Department also noted that, in addition to providing counter-argumentative information, the above units need to do a good job of setting examples of organizations and individuals who have made great efforts in protecting, caring for and improving people's health to maintain the vaccination achievements made in recent years.

According to Vietnam+