Some families are hesitant to vaccinate their children due to rumors spread on social media platforms claiming that vaccination causes autism. However, these rumors have been debunked by Iraqi health experts and the World Health Organization (WHO)
In a survey conducted by a Facebook account in Kurdish among families with autism and Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity ADHD, the questionnaire was about tumors that vaccination is linked to autism though its main causes are still not found, each family shared their opinion in the comments.
Verification of information:
"Vaccination is crucial for protecting children from deadly communicable diseases and autism,” said Rizgar Ali, head of Protection Department at Sulaymaniya Health Directorate.
“In fact, autism is a disease in the world that is related to social relationships,” he added.
"All vaccines from one to five years old have undergone extensive testing in international laboratories and deemed safe. These vaccines are essential for safeguarding children from infectious diseases especially since children have weaker immunity systems," he added.
“Since the introduction of vaccinations in the 1960s and 1970s, they have played a vital role in reducing child mortality. Vaccines are a safe and effective tool nothing that has no connection to autism or any other disease.”
The (WHO) stresses the importance of infant vaccinations in preventing serious illnesses.
Vaccinating children are very important in the first year of life, "because children are more likely to contract communicable diseases at this age ... Vaccination in the first months of life helps build their immune systems and protects them from diseases of polio, measles, mumps, pneumonia, meningitis, rotavirus (a major cause of severe diarrhea).”
Iraq’s healthcare system which was once one of the most advanced in the region now is in serious crisis. There’s a shortage of drugs, buildings and the medical staff to administer it. Over the past three decades the country has been ravaged by Iraqi-Iran war, Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, ousting of Saddam regime followed by sectarian violence, the war against al-Qaeda and the rise of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria ISIS.
The political chaos after 2003, pushed an estimated 15,000 out of 52,000 registered Iraqi doctors to leave the country. The young student doctors primarily seek training and life abroad rather than permanent state employment.
