Stand up to vaccine misinformation campaigns to tackle childhood disease increase

In Parliament, I raised the urgent need to tackle vaccine misinformation and rebuild trust in public health messaging. In moments of crisis, we are reminded just how much we rely on health professionals to keep us safe.

The UK Health Security Agency and the NHS have a huge job: getting clear, reliable information to the public and delivering targeted vaccination programmes. But this moment is also a reminder of the dangers of bad information. Childhood vaccination take-up has declined over the past decade, and some of that has been linked to misinformation spreading freely online, alongside well-organised and well-funded anti-vaccination groups.

Worse still, vaccine scepticism is sometimes amplified by populist politicians. In the United States, President Trump has appointed a vaccine sceptic, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, as the U.S Secretary of Health. Here in the UK, the Reform party recently platformed an anti-vax spokesperson at its conference. That legitimises conspiracy theories and makes it harder for public health professionals to do their jobs.

Those who confront this issue often face abuse online, and sometimes even in person. But we cannot allow intimidation to stop us from addressing something as serious as protecting children’s health.

That is why I asked the Leader of the House of Commons to organise a ministerial statement on how the Government will tackle rising misinformation and conspiracy theories, and how we will raise childhood vaccination rates again.