More of your letters to the Daily Telegraph

I am going to post these letters here though there are many more still to include which I will put into a separate post. Please read these letters as the demonstrate so clearly the incredible intelligence and caring demonstrated by those who support freedom of health choice when it comes to vaccination. Dear Sir, I find the action of doctors trying to force a name change on the Australian Vaccination Network undemocratic. I find the whole witch hunt by the Skeptics and mainstream medicine to curtail our choices for natural alternatives undemocratic. As a person who has had adverse reactions to vaccination and had a child and nephew damaged by vaccines, I deplore the hatred that the media encourages in the population against people who want to find information so that they can make an educated choice. This kind of information is NOT going to be on the health departments website and googling Australian Vaccination Network seems a fair call, or is the media totally in the grip of the pharmaceutical companies now? To be fair, I just watched the story of thalidomide on NBN 60 minutes and am still reeling from the shock of that! Trust chemical companies to do what is best for us? Give me a break and give parents a fair go and let them have a choice. The whole idea of herd immunity is not an established fact and scaring young parents is immoral. BL To the Editor, I'm a bit confused. Do I NOT have the right to make informed health decisions regarding pharmaceutical drugs, experimental trials, vaccinations, surgeries or other forms of medical treatment in our democratic country? If not, exactly when did the medical profession declare that I am incapable of exercising this BASIC RIGHT to decide in my best interests? Dr Ken Harvey seems to want us all to do what HE thinks is best. Rather, Dr Harvey and the AMA should be working towards supporting healthcare consumers in making well-informed decisions about all aspects of their healthcare and treatment options. A more mature approach involving open and free enquiry will result in better health outcomes for everyone. LF Dear Editor, I am writing in response to an article published in the Sunday Telegraph today that’s’ sole aim appears to be the need to give credence to the ravings of a small group of outraged and outdated cliquey doctors who are deluded enough to believe that they still live in an age where people not only do not know how to research an issue for themselves, but that those same people do implicitly trust big business with the best interests of the average punter. In these enlightened days, we have higher community standards of education and greater opportunities for access to information and research than ever before (not to mention far better hygiene awareness – that fact never seems to make it into the conclusions of compulsory vaccination supporters). The Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) fulfils a valuable role in our society by providing objective, factual, and fully referenced material easily to those who question the issue (both morally and scientifically) and, indeed, to any who ask. As a father of two, I have greatly appreciated the opportunity to protect my children by simply being better informed when confronted by a doctor who is less knowledgeable about the possible side-effects and contents of a particular vaccine than I. As such a provider of information (peer-reviewed studies, ingredients, adverse side-effect logs and statistics, etc) the AVN is clearly a pro-choice organisation and a valid, deserving, and necessary charity at that. That these so-called health professionals should have such vehemence aimed at a charity that does nothing but work with the same information they themselves have access to leads me to believe that Dr Ken Harvey et al must have something to hide. Certainly, if attacking the AVN’s right to it’s very name is all they can come up with, these practitioners are most definitely on flimsy ground. If access to information is their problem maybe they’d feel happier burning books with the Nazis! Whichever way, it belittles your journalistic reputation to provide such a forum for such petty and ill-considered attacks. I’m sure you could use the page space in a far more valuable manner. So too with such needlessly alarmist articles such as the whooping cough baby incident. If you consider that the baby probably contracted the disease in the hospital, you’d look past the easily led opinions of a 20 year old distressed mother and start pointing the finger at the hospital staff. Oh and don’t forget to be outraged at the fact that the young couple are not even married!!! You nearly alienated the extreme right-wing conservative readership there! Lift your game Sunday Telegraph... Sincerely, SP Dear sir/madam, Vaccination is a medical procedure and no matter how rare some believe the reactions to be, they do occur. My first child reacted to her second shots with serious results and it took me 3 years of constant appointments with doctors and specialists and no one could assist her. My son has never been vaccinated and my daughter didn't continue. Needless to say, they have never had any of the diseases we vaccinate against and my son is 100% healthy. Unfortunately the young baby pictured was too young to be vaccinated, but so many fully vaccinated children and young adults do succumb to the disease they were vaccinated against. They should not be blaming the unvaccinated but the vaccine, doctors, and Health department that promised protection and did not deliver SL Dear Sir / Madam, I was horrified at the article your paper wrote on the AVN “Doctors unite to smash the anti-vaccine group” I am writing about your recent article in today’s Sunday Telegraph (Sydney) regarding the AVN. I do not believe your paper has presented the facts in an appropriate manner and I believe you have been very biased in this instance towards the AVN . The AVN is an organisation that deals with facts, both pro and con vaccinations. They are not motivated by money. I have never seen anything they have presented that cannot be substantiated with scientific proof. Meryl is an extremely intelligent woman who represents this organisation and would never stoop to misrepresent the truth or present any argument or facts that could not be substantiated. The AVN has often invited well known doctors to participate on open discussions at their events to promote the pros of vaccination. Hardly something that an anti-vaccination group would do. Last time I looked, we have a democracy in this country and freedom of speech. Why is this organisation being victimised for wanting to know the truth and asking questions that we as parents would like to know answers to? It seems that there is an all-out war on anyone that asks or questions anything which is not in the interests of people who want to be above scrutiny and they seem to have the full support of the media. Your article is not just attacking this organisation, but thousands of parents who are asking the same questions and seeking the same answers. The truth can always be substantiated by facts and thus, no one can be a threat unless they have facts on their side. I don’t see anyone giving these people a chance to tell their side of the story. Why? Who is threatened by what they have to say or ask? If their cause is without merit, they would have disappeared years ago. In articles like yours I see many statements bantered around and opinions presented as facts, but I see nothing to substantiate your statements. Please present references to your statements and accusations. I am not interested in credentials, but facts that are substantiated. I personally, have known hundreds of children damaged by vaccines including my own child and while I do not say vaccines have no value, I do not appreciate people like yourselves and the people in the story presenting only on side of it and denying anything that is negative exists. I have a right to know all the facts. We all do. Would you please give me evidence for the following questions if you are so confident in your version of this story? · Are there any side effects to vaccines? · Are they 100% safe? · Can you show me proof that there are no vaccine injured children? · That the people who you represent in the story have no financial ties to the perspective they are pushing and genuinely seek the truth and welfare of others and if so why do they deny damaged children exist. · Can you honestly say that doctors and scientists have never made a mistake? · Can you say I and other have no right to hear both the pros and cons on this issue? · Why do you not reprint your article and include an opportunity for the AVN to present their stand on this issue, not your version of their stand as I am sure the public would decide for themselves very quickly if what they stand for has no merit. In your example picture, you show one family with negative outcome from not vaccinating and this is fair enough, but please also shows the ones who have had serious problems . I as a citizen want all the facts, not just the ones who promote one side of the story and I expect that the media is unbiased on issues like these. Sincerely JC To whom it may concern: Please be advised that I have been informed that the Sunday Telegraph has written an article that appears to be quite hostile re: the Australian Vaccination Network. I am saddened by the content of this article. It sure appears to me that there is a concerted movement by a group of medical practitioners to take away our (yours and mine) option to become informed on this very contentious issue. It will always be very important to allow a number of perspectives on an issue to be debated. The basis of a FREE SOCIETY is our God given right to be able to have this right to discuss, contemplate and work together to allow the best outcome to show itself to one and all. This article seems to be 'demonizing' the AVN for attempting to disclose information that has significant relevance to our capacity to choose health care options. It is my hope that the Telegraph newspaper realizes that more and more Australians are questioning why so many Australians are so obese, and suffering so many illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer ----to name just a few. Lastly, there is an "elephant in the room" that has hardly had any mention what so ever. The statistics coming out of America have long acknowledged that +/-125,000 Americans die EVERY year from PROPERLY prescribed pharmaceutical drugs. In addition, deaths that occur to individuals in hospitals are hugely alarming as well. If one adds just these two facts together, huge numbers of people are dying due to improper lifestyle choices. The Australian profile is proportionately similar. Wow!!!!! It seems to me that somehow there is a much larger picture here that needs to be debated. Did you know that the Amish (mainly in the eastern USA) have very low morbidity and low mortality relative to the huge proportions of the western populations of the world.???? The glaring difference between the Amish and the rest of us in their lifestyle choices----they grow their own food and they don't get vaccinated. Hmmmmmmmmmmm!! I have "copied and pasted" a brief summary of an excellent DVD that I would suggest you have a look at. It is called The Greater Good. It states: The Greater Good is an award winning film by Leslie Manookian, Kendall Nelson and Chris Pilaro that goes beyond the fear, hype and politics that have polarized the vaccine debate. The film re-frames this emotionally charged issue and offers, for the first time, the opportunity for a rational and scientific discussion on how to create a safer and more effective vaccine program. Our society has reached a crossroads on vaccines. Americans are asking questions about safety but are confused about where to turn for answers. Government agencies are charged with implementing sound policies that will keep vaccination rates high and disease rates low. But to accomplish this noble goal, does the government go too far in shielding the public from possible side effects? American children are now the most vaccinated population on the planet. One would think they would also be the healthiest, but consider these alarming statistics: according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 6 children has a learning disability or behavioral problem, 1 in 9 children is asthmatic, 1 in 110 children suffers from autism, and 1 in 450 is diabetic. Vaccinate? The Greater Good explores this pressing question and sheds light on an issue that is already on the minds of expecting mothers and fathers, grandparents, doctors and healthcare professionals across the country. This film is a character-driven documentary that explores the areas where parenting, modern medicine and states’ rights clash with politics, group-think and Big Pharma. The film offers parents, doctors and policy-makers a safe space to actively listen to and learn from one another. Mixing verité footage, intimate interviews, 1950s-era government-produced movies and up-to-date TV news reporting, The Greater Good weaves together the stories of families whose lives have been forever changed by vaccination. It is my sincere hope that honesty, transparency and truth be allowed to come forth in ALL areas of our lives. When PROFIT before people and planet is allowed to occur, our world, our families and friends come off second best. Kind regards to all of you who aspire to truthfulness in the public medias. Dr. AH - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad