Virus World

A global survey of attitudes towards science has revealed the scale of the crisis of confidence in vaccines in Europe, showing that only 59% of people in western Europe and 50% in the east think vaccines are safe, compared with 79% worldwide. 

Around the globe, 84% of people acknowledge that vaccines are effective and 92% say their child has received a vaccine. But in spite of good healthcare and education systems, in parts of Europe there is low trust in vaccines. France has the highest levels of distrust, at 33%.

The first Wellcome Global Monitor survey, which canvassed attitudes among 140,000 people worldwide, shows clear links between people’s trust in doctors, nurses and scientists and their confidence in vaccines. It also shows that mistrust in government institutions goes hand in hand with doubts about vaccines’ safety. 

Bangladesh and Rwanda have the highest confidence in vaccines in the world, the Global Monitor shows. Rwanda also has the highest trust in its healthcare, at 97%, against a global average of 76%.

“In developing countries, where deadly diseases like diphtheria, measles or whooping cough are more common, I’ve seen mothers queue for hours to make sure their child is vaccinated,” said Seth Berkley, the chief executive of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. “It is in wealthier countries, where we no longer see the terrible impact these preventable diseases can have, that people are more reticent. This reticence is a luxury we can ill afford.”

Northern Europe, which includes the UK, has more confidence in the safety and effectiveness of vaccines than the western or eastern regions. In northern Europe, 73% of people think they are safe, the same figure as in northern America, and 84% think they are effective (83% in northern America). Only 65% of eastern Europeans think they are effective. In Ukraine, which had more than 53,000 measles cases last year, the figure is 50%.