  Social media companies could soon be forced to clamp down on false information spread by anti-vaccination groups on their sites
  Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he wanted new legislation to force the tech giants to take down misleading material
  The “anti-vaxx” movement is one of the top 10 global health threats facing humanity, the World Health Organisation has said
  Vaccination rates for measles, mumps and rubella are falling across the world and cases of measles in Europe reached a record high of 80,000 last year
  In the UK, NHS figures reveal the proportion of two-year-olds ­immunised against MMR has dropped for four years in a row
  MMR vaccinations dropped in the 1990s after a report linked the vaccine to autism, which has long been discredited and disproved
      Just this month, a major study of Danish children confirmed the MMR vaccine does not cause autism and the risk was no higher in MMR-vaccinated children than in unvaccinated children
   Dr Miriam Stoppard says: “Why are the anti-vaxxers still out in force peddling fake news on a grand scale? And why isn’t ­ Facebook being indicted?   “More than half of all parents in Britain have read these fake online posts about vaccines – leading many not to immunise their kids
  “This, in turn, has led to outbreaks of diseases not seen in years, such as mumps and measles
  “Much of the blame must lie at the door of Facebook, which has failed to take action against this misinformation and resultant vaccine hesitancy
”  Facebook has pledged to crack down on the spreading of false information.  It said in a statement: “We are working to tackle vaccine misinformation by reducing its distribution and providing people with authoritative information on the topic
”      Vaccines are more effective than many other medicines and in the case of measles, 99
7% effective, according to Oxford University’s Vaccine Knowledge Project.  But many parents still lack trust in medical professionals and the science backing them
  Facebook is full of groups devoted to promoting “natural immunity” and herbal remedies instead of vaccines, with ludicrous claims and conspiracy theories
  In a group with public posts, one parent spread the lie: “Vaccines don’t work. They are designed to destroy the immune system
”  Another said her two unvaccinated children had not caught measles because she “had been giving them Vitamin A and C”
  Dr Stoppard says: “I sympathise with parents. It’s difficult to ignore the myths spread by anti-vaxxers
  "Especially when parents are giving the same alarmist messages on forums and social media
   "You find website after website is telling you that vaccines are bad for children
  "Conspiracy theories abound and no one is correcting them. For Facebook, however, I have not a shred of sympathy
”  It is not mandatory to have your child vaccinated in the UK, but other countries take a harder line
  In Australia, parents who refuse to immunise their children now lose their welfare benefits and access to child care
  In France, parents who fail to vaccinate their kids will be fined and barred from sending them to state-funded nurseries or schools
  But Dr Miriam says: “It is not the parents who should be punished, it’s Facebook for peddling such inaccurate and dangerous rubbish
  “The irresponsible behaviour of Facebook is a crime against humanity. We must take action
” My disability shows the danger measles poses    By Dr Helen Grote, neurology registrar at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust   Twitter: @helengrote   I am a doctor and I am also profoundly deaf due to the measles that my mother contracted at 10 weeks of pregnancy
  I know from personal and professional experience just how devastating vaccine preventable diseases are
  I was born in 1979, well before the introduction of the MMR vaccine.  At 10 weeks into her pregnancy with me, my mother became unwell with a high temperature and a rash
  As a nurse she knew it was measles but fortunately, a doctor was able to confirm that it wasn’t Rubella, which is more commonly associated with blindness, deafness and brain damage in unborn children
  It wasn’t until I was nearly three that it became evident that I something was very wrong
  I had no meaningful speech, couldn’t communicate with other people and the resulting frustration caused considerable behavioural problems that rapidly made life rather difficult for my parents and others too
   I was eventually seen by a health visitor who arranged for a hearing test that confirmed my deafness
  I’ve got changes in the retina in both my eyes, which is also a result of the measles, but fortunately, my vision and brain aren’t affected
  I count myself one of the lucky ones. I live in a country where the NHS has provided me with the speech therapy and hearing aids I needed
  The gift of speech and communication changed my life, enabling me to access mainstream education, and later medical school
  Measles is highly contagious and causes complications such as pneumonia, ear infections, permanent vision loss and encephalitis – a swelling of the brain that can cause permanent brain damage
  The UK was declared free of measles as recently as 2017 and yet in 2018 there were 966 cases of measles in England, most of which occurred in young children who were unvaccinated
  My paediatrician colleagues are seeing cases of measles in hospitals here every single week
   I recently Tweeted to share my story and highlight that measles kills and causes permanent disability
  The message went viral and while most messages were supportive, I’ve also been inundated with accusations of fake news and at worst, racist comments blaming immigrants for the rise in measles
  It’s made me realise just how powerful – and dangerous – the anti-vaccination lobby is
 Vaccination is safe and hugely effective.  Vaccination programs have saved more lives and life years than all cancer treatments combined and yet too many parents are being fed lies about the dangers of vaccines, leading to falling immunisation rates and a rise in diseases which should be consigned to history
  Not vaccinating your children puts them and others, such as children undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer who can’t be vaccinated, at risk of diseases which can kill and cause permanent disability
  There is no substitute for vaccination either – herbal remedies, vitamins, and homeopathic treatments do not work
  Don’t listen to the fake news on social media. Listen to the experts and if you have questions, speak to your GP or paediatrician for trustworthy advice
  Vaccinate your children and take the opportunity to protect your them before it’s too late
   
