BUFFALO, N.Y. — The World Health Organization has released its list of issues that will demand attention in 2019. The agency calls anti-vaxxers one of the top threats to global health.
According to the statement, vaccine hesitancy "threatens to reverse progress made in tackling vaccine-preventable diseases."
Complacency, inconvenience, and lack of confidence are among the reasons people opt not to vaccinate.
Also on WHO's list for threats to global health were:
- air pollution and climate change
- noncommunicable diseases
- global influence pandemic
- fragile and vulnerable settings such as places with drought, famine, conflict, etc.
- antimicrobial resistance
- Ebola and other high-threat pathogens
- weak primary health care
- dengue
- HIV
