Infographic – Where Vaccine Distrust is Greatest

Click on image for full-size view (Statista)

22 June 2019. The recent outbreak of measles in the U.S. and in other parts of the world is traced in large part to mistrust of vaccines. While much attention is focused on the current measles outbreak, distrust of vaccines apparently goes beyond this one disease. Our friends at Statista published a chart this week with data from a global Wellcome Trust survey showing where that distrust is greatest, our infographic for this weekend.

The survey asked 140,000 respondents in 140 countries if they believed vaccines were safe, and the highest percentages of those saying “not much” or “not at all” are found in Europe and Africa. About 1 in 3 people in France (33%) do not believe in the safety of vaccines, which Statista says may be related to a current controversy over a pandemic flu vaccine. About a quarter, 24 to 26 percent, of those in Gabon, Togo, and Russia also do not trust the safety of vaccines.

In seven other countries, mainly in Europe, but also Burkina Faso and Haiti, 20 to 22 percent of respondents express distrust in vaccine safety. In the U.S., that percentage is 11 percent.

More from Science & Enterprise:

• Infographic – Americans Leery of Biometrics
• Infographic – U.S. Leads in Unvaccinated for Measles
• Infographic – Fastest Growing Measles Outbreaks

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