A Charles Sturt University (CSU) ethicist has warned parents not to rely solely on information found on the Internet when deciding whether to vaccinate their children against common childhood diseases.
Ethicist Dr Alberto Giubilini, with CSU’s Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (CAPPE) based in Canberra, believes that when it comes to decisions about health and medicine, what matters is what is scientifically, objectively demonstrated and, ultimately, what works.
“The question to ask is simple: do vaccines work better than alternative methods?,” he said.
“If they do, then people not only can, but have an ethical obligation to, use vaccines to protect themselves and people around them. This also applies to children. We have a duty not only to protect our own children’s health, but also to protect public health.”
Dr Giubilini said that people can find whatever information they want to find on the Internet to accommodate their biases.
“Humans have a natural tendency to give credit to what supports their beliefs and to disregard anything that might prove them wrong,” he said.
”Thus, people who are guided by biases against vaccinations will easily find websites and alleged ‘experts’ supporting their views.”
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