GESTIÓN EN SALUD PÚBLICA: Another anti-vaxxer barred from entering Australia

sábado, 2 de septiembre de 2017

Another anti-vaxxer barred from entering Australia

Another anti-vaxxer barred from entering Australia

by Michael Cook | 2 Sep 2017 |

A prominent American anti-vaccination campaigner has been barred from entering Australia, after immigration minister Peter Dutton deemed his views to be against “national interests”.

Mr Dutton believes that Kent Heckenlively -- who describes himself as the “world’s no.1 anti-vaxxer” -- will undermine the new federal government A$5.5 million vaccination education campaign, aimed at dispelling myths about the risks of vaccination. Dutton commented:

"These people who are telling kids, telling parents that their kids shouldn't be vaccinated are dangerous people … it is clear to me that it is not in our national interest that [Heckenlively] should come here.”

Mr Heckenlively has authored multiple books on the dangers of vaccination, and has links to discredited anti-vaccination scientist Andrew Wakefield.

Two other anti-vaccination campaigners, Polly Tommey, from the UK, and Dr Suzanne Humphries, from the US, have been reportedly banned from returning to Australia after organising screenings of the controversial film Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe.

“Fatherhood” is what the guys in the business of policing the language call an “essentially contested concept” – no matter how much palaver you invest in it, you won’t make any progress. At least nowadays.

Below we feature a story from the Netherlands about two men who have each sired over a hundred children, one through sperm donation to IVF clinics, the other mostly through more conventional channels. Are they fathers?

Another story comes from Australia, which is girding its loins for a campaign on same-sex marriage. A group promoting closer links between fathers and their children, Dads4Kids, has been running a public service TV advertisement for 15 years. This year, a 30-second spot of a dad crooning to his wee sprog was rejected because it was “too political”.

A spokesman for the foundation complained:

“It is extraordinary that this is where we have come to as a country; we can no longer celebrate Father’s Day without being forced to look at it through the lens of the same-sex marriage debate. It’s a tragedy that a political motive is now implied in any mention of fatherhood. Not everything is about same-sex marriage.”

The history of this simple advertisement tracks the evolving concept. In a span of 15 years, fatherhood, or rather “fatherhood”, has shifted from a universally admired status to a politically suspect notion. Are we the better for it?

Happy Father’s Day to our Australian readers.