On the other hand, you bring up a good point about education. Proper education helps achieve improvement of health within the community. Yet, this brings me to the issue of vaccination. There are a number of parents who opt-out their kids to get vaccinated because they incorrectly believe vaccines cause autism and other medical complications, and believe that measles and polio no longer a threat. But, by doing so they put others at risk, similar to what happened to the outbreak of measles in Disneyland. What is really ironic, according to research is that parents who
refuse to have their children vaccinated belong to the upper echelon of the society, those with private insurances and what not. As a parent, I would believe this to be a subtle form of structural violence, because the parent has knowingly exposed his or her child to childhood illnesses. It is cruel. For instance, they do not understand the pain and discomfort of having a chicken pox, not to forget the constant itching of your body. One needs to be quarantined in the confines of the room, missing school and tons of homework to catch up all because of ignorance and misinformation. Parents who hold on to their individual focus and misguided need should truly be educated on the matter. Vaccinations are given as a preventative measure to these preventable diseases. I truly agree with you Ernest that stringent attempts should be in place to work out these concerns.