Let's learn from Canadian mistakes

Canada enjoyed measles-free status for nearly three decades. For the past year, however, it has been struggling with outbreaks of the disease. Infections have been reported over the past year in provinces and territories including Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories. - Although infections have slowed recently, outbreaks have continued for more than 12 months, mostly in communities where there is inadequate vaccination coverage, wrote a release from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), a government agency that is part of the federal health ministry. It was the chronic nature of the persistence of the outbreaks that determined the change in status.

This year alone, through October 25, more than 5,000 cases of measles have been reported in Canada. Between 1998 and 2024, with its status as a country free of the disease, Canada recorded an average of 91 cases. Single, scattered - imported - cases of the disease are not the problem. The problem begins when the virus is allowed to circulate freely in the population. Experts remind that measles is the most contagious disease in the world, which is effectively prevented by vaccination - but immunization must be maintained at 95 percent of the population. Meanwhile, in Canada, between 2019 and 2023, immunization levels of children with the MMR vaccine fell from 90 to 83 percent for the first dose of the vaccine and to about 76 percent for the second dose. There are areas of the country where these levels are even lower, in Quebec and Alberta there are communities where vaccination levels are around 30 percent.

Infectious diseases and vaccinations are one of the areas where it is best to learn from others' mistakes - and if Canada made that mistake, Poland should be wise before (its own) harm. The narrative of a safely high vaccination rate (exceeding 90 percent) that dominates public discussion is dangerous insofar as the high (relatively) rate applies to the first dose of vaccine - in Poland, too, we have seen a decline in vaccination with subsequent doses (this does not apply only to measles vaccination). We also have a problem with deviations and areas (counties, municipalities) with significantly disadvantageous vaccination levels. We are still waiting for full information and making public the results of the "physical census" (i.e., paper vaccination cards) that the health inspectorate has been conducting for several months. It's not just about the data - but perhaps more importantly, the conclusions drawn from it. And, above all, decisions, translated into concrete actions.