ALMOST one in four Australians think natural homeopathic remedies are an adequate substitute for vaccines, despite 94 per cent of people agreeing conventional immunisation is an effective way of preventing the spread of disease.
The belief was revealed in a Newspoll survey of 1200 people, carried out on behalf of the Australian Medicines Industry - which also showed that 15 per cent of people think vaccinations weaken the immune system and 7 per cent believe children do not need to be immunised because the placenta and breast-feeding adequately develop a baby's immune system.
The head of clinical research at the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, Professor Robert Booy, blamed "new-age thinking" for the current confusion over the effectiveness of natural remedies.
"It is heartening to see that the vast majority of people understand the benefits of vaccination, but it is a bit surprising that so many people have the misconception that natural remedies can be beneficial when there is nothing in terms of evidence to support that belief," Professor Booy said.
"I think it's the result of new-age thinking and of people hoping that natural remedies are better, even though they have not been tested."
Professor Booy said although the nation's child vaccination rate had hovered around the 95 per cent level for several years, there was a danger of new parents becoming complacent.
"Vaccination has in many ways become a victim of its own success," he said.
"Our immunisation program has been so effective in controlling diseases from which children would once die, so people who become parents now have never seen the diseases and often don't understand how dangerous they can be."But these diseases are not eradicated, only under control so if immunisation rates were to fall children would die from these diseases again."
Australian Association of Professional Homeopaths president Dr Shenaz Morkas said she had noticed an increase in the number of parents choosing homeopathy for their children as an alternative to conventional vaccination.
"Particularly for children who have allergies, homeopathic vaccination is seen as a more natural option," she said.
The Australian Medicines Industry spokesman Dr Brendan Shaw said: "Every day, immunisation saves lives and makes it possible for many Australians to live free from the illness and disability caused by many infectious diseases."
Source:the telegraph.com.au
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