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Erschienen in:
01.08.2008 | Original Article
The public perception of the value of vaccines - the case of Switzerland
Erschienen in: Journal of Public Health | Ausgabe 4/2008
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Aim
In this original article, we seek to analyse the environment in which immunisation policies are adopted and, more specifically, the way the public perception of vaccines influences decision-making, by looking more closely at the case of Switzerland.
Subjects and methods
Historical and present-day examples of attitudes towards immunisation and specific vaccines, both on the part of the public and of health-care workers, are reviewed.
Results
Decision-making with regard to vaccine policy implementation has been and is still most often driven by fear: fear of disease (when perceived as rampant and/or dangerous), but also fear of vaccine-associated adverse events (when the disease is less or no longer “visible”). However, methodology for introducing evidence-based immunisation policies exists and can be used by public health authorities, while vaccination information systems (such as the Swiss InfoVac) have proven their usefulness in providing trustworthy, peer-based knowledge to health-care workers.
Conclusion
Only information based on clear, evidence-based data gathered and analysed according to solid methodological criteria coupled with adequate information of health-care workers (and thus patients) can ensure in future the implementation of scientifically coherent, publicly acceptable, and equitable immunisation policies.