At a time when, despite the compulsory nature of vaccines, the issue of their necessity is being discussed again in our country, the Scientific Director of Humanitas, the immunologist Alberto Mantovani, recalls the importance of this instrument of prevention:
“Vaccines are indispensable. They are one of the reasons, along with drinking water and antibiotics, why our life expectancy has increased from 40 to 80 years. Personally, I have always supported the need for compulsory vaccination, which must certainly be accompanied by proper information for the public as well as for doctors and pediatricians. We must give people the tools to make an informed choice, for the sake of the health of all, and the weakest in particular. By preventing microbes from being transmitted, in fact, those who vaccinate also protect those who cannot do so – for example because they have cancer or a compromised immune system – and for this reason depend on the immunity of the community. Vaccination is, therefore, also an act of social responsibility”.
A number of doctors have spoken publicly on the subject, including Giulio Maira, a neurosurgeon at the hospital who has been involved in awareness-raising activities on prevention issues for years: “Without the vaccination campaign of recent decades – says Maira – we would still be exposed to diseases such as polio, measles and smallpox. The results achieved are the result of a rigorous programme of our scientific institutions and those of the whole world. The history of science tells us about serious diseases eradicated with vaccines.
