In a world that is progressing towards making top-notch inventions and progress in the medical world, it is surprising that we have a group of people that do not believe in vaccines. It is even more surprising the most number of non-believers in vaccines come from a country that is one the most advanced.
Marie-Claire Grime, who works at a pharmacy in the northeast of Paris says questions about vaccines are a daily challenge for her. These questions usually come from parents who claim to be worried about "a lot of chemicals" being put into their children, she says. She does her best to allay such fears.
"We try hard to convince them of the huge advantages vaccination brings," Grime told an International news agency at her shop in the town of Bobigny. "It is sometimes discouraging to find ourselves repeating the same things all over again."
France has emerged as a large global survey as the biggest skeptics in the world about the safety of vaccines. In a study conducted by Gallup and funded by global health charity The Wellcome Trust, France was claimed to have the highest amount of non-believers in vaccines. The study states that one in three French people think vaccines are unsafe - the highest rate in the world - and almost 20% believe they are not effective.
The World Health Organization says making vaccines mandatory is one of the best ways to boost immunisation rates. France decided last year to up the number of compulsory vaccines to 11 from three for babies under two years old.
David Loew, an executive at the drug- and vaccine-maker Sanofi Pasteur, says French scepticism down to misinformation.
"There have been in the past years a lot of theories connecting vaccines to various health issues. There is also fake news circulating on social media which poses a real problem," he told reporters last week.
Loew said the best way to address the issue was to ensure health professionals - who the Wellcome study showed is broadly trusted by members of the public in France - are equipped with robust information and access to those who have concerns.
Yet one such health worker - Helene Salliet, a 35-year-old mother and social worker at a hospital in southwest Paris - says government officials need to avoid a top-down approach.
"Authorities must take into consideration that we are not just subjects that have to obey," she told Reuters. "We, parents, must get the right tools to understand and make well-informed decisions."
