According to a study by the Gallup polling institute for the NGO Wellcome, published Wednesday, June 19, France would be the most skeptical country facing vaccination. One in three French people would not trust vaccines, and one in ten would not think it is important to vaccinate their children.
However, immunization coverage is on the rise in France, since the passage in January 2018 of three to eleven compulsory vaccines for children born after 2008.
This rise does not prevent France from finding itself at the top of the skeptics' podium, followed closely by Gabon (26% of skeptics questioned), Togo (25%), Russia (24%) and Switzerland ( 22%).
Figures much higher than in poorer countries like Bangladesh, Rwanda or Ethiopia, where people say they have confidence in vaccination. "In these countries, there are more contagious diseases, and their inhabitants no doubt see what happens when you are not vaccinated," says researcher Imran Khan and member of Wellcome . "In the United States and France, when you're not vaccinated, you're less likely to get sick, because the health systems are pretty good, and when you're infected, you're less likely to die," he says. he described this phenomenon as a "laissez-faire effect".
Why does France occupy such a high place in this ranking? Jacques Bessin, president of the National Union of Citizen Health Associations (UNACS), is in favor of "vaccine freedom". For him, the distrust of the French is explained by "the fact that the medical profession does not inform people about the possible side effects of vaccines", and "pushes for vaccination for questions of economic interests and ego ".
In April 2019, WHO alerted about the outbreak of measles cases in the world, with a jump of 300% in the first quarter of the year. The main causes of this increase vary according to the wealth of the countries: in the poor countries, it is mainly due to a bad access to care, whereas in the rich countries, mistrust with the vaccination would explain this recrudescence of cases.
In addition to measles, many diseases of the past resurface in France: tuberculosis, scab or scurvy, many cases of contamination have been identified in recent years. Following the return of these pathologies, the health authorities called each citizen to check his vaccination status, and to be vaccinated in case of doubt.
The survey was conducted on 140,000 people over the age of 15 in 144 different countries.