September 26, 2002

release of report from ‘MMR lessons’ meeting

The report was published following the ‘MMR: Learning Lessons’ meeting, which was hosted by the Science Media Centre in May 2002.

The MMR vaccine has been a topic of growing controversy for many years. Links with bowel disorders and autism have been suggested by a handful of doctors, while the vast weight of scientific opinion says that the triple vaccine is by far the best way to protect children from measles, mumps and rubella, and that the proposed link with autism is entirely unproven. Yet despite the overwhelming opinion of the scientific community, the reality is that the public remains unconvinced. One probable cause may be the way that the media covered the issue. That’s why the Science Media Centre decided to host a ‘Lesson Learning’ session on “MMR and the Media”. The full report is available for download as a pdf document.