Deniers bring back diseases that have already been combated

Aida Franco de Lima – OPINION

Caesar's wife must not only be honest. She must also appear to be honest. This phrase is attributed to Emperor Caesar, from the 62nd century BC. And, moving to our current world, paraphrasing it, addressed to a percentage of our society, the denier must not only appear ignorant, he must also campaign for ignorance.

In the 1970s, measles, smallpox and polio threatened children and, when they didn't take lives, left their mark. Children who grew up without ever running through the streets or climbing trees, because their wheelchairs or crutches prevented them.

According to the Federal University of Santa Maria, polio was eradicated from the country in 1994. However, the country has a high risk of reintroduction of the disease.

According to Fiocruz, in Latin America, eradication campaigns took place in the two countries that still recorded cases of the disease: Argentina and Brazil. Since smallpox was still endemic in Brazil, the Brazilian government invested in mass vaccination, the organization of an epidemiological surveillance network and the creation of reference laboratories to support the combat program. The sum of these efforts made it possible to eradicate the disease in the Americas in 1972.

In the 1980s and 1990s, schools were working hard to encourage vaccination, and lines formed. Parents were encouraged to immunize their children, and everyone rushed to get vaccinated. An entire generation remembers the fear of the “pressure gun” and a mark on the arm, usually the right one.

Slowly, these and other diseases fought with vaccines were eradicated. However, in recent years, especially with widespread connectivity, in which information distorted have more repercussions than anything true on the internet, things started to get complicated.

Despite the evidence proving the effectiveness of vaccines, what was once a discourse of small groups around the world, who preferred a life far from industrialized products and without consumerism, has become part of the agenda of those who do not care about pesticides, but question the vaccine.

Deniers are here to stay – and they already are results. In 2016, Brazil had achieved the certificate of elimination of the disease. However, in 2019 it lost this recognition, as it had 81,5% vaccination coverage. However, in 2022 this rate was 53%. In just ten years, polio vaccination coverage went from 96,5% in 2012 to 77% in 2022, a drop of approximately 20%.

The movement, which grew abroad, has branched out in Brazil. Families who have been vaccinated their entire lives now leave the vaccination cards of the new generations in the back of a drawer. The justification is always the lack of proof of the benefits of the vaccine. And any health problem that affects someone is already related to the vaccination.

However, there is no such questioning regarding the use of pesticides, even to eliminate weeds on the sidewalk. I do not see the denialist, who seems so concerned about health, defending the preservation of water sources, for example.

Ignorance and opportunism go hand in hand. And to combat this evil, the most effective vaccine is quality information.

This text is the responsibility of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of H2FOZ.

Do you want to share your opinion? Send your article to the email portal@h2foz.com.br