WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The head of the World Health Organization has upheld the safety of childhood vaccines in response to a new directive from the White House to overhaul the recommended inoculation schedule.
On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that calls for reducing the number of routine childhood immunizations from 18 to 11.
The administration's Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations also advocate for separating the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine into three single-disease shots that would be administered during separate medical appointments.
The policy also aims to improve vaccine research and to maximize parental choice over which shots their children receive by ensuring state compliance with constitutional and federal statutory obligations regarding parental authority, religious freedom, accommodations for those with disabilities and equal protection under the law.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus issued a statement Wednesday underscoring the critical role of vaccination for public health.
He said WHO was concerned that the changes 'are not aligned with decades of evidence' on when best to immunize children, how many doses are needed, and which vaccines can be administered together safely.
'The current evidence is unequivocal: vaccines - including the MMR vaccine - are safe and do not cause autism,' he said.
He warned that delaying vaccines or separating doses unnecessarily does not make vaccination safer and can leave children unprotected.
Tedros said 'global evidence and recommendations, including from WHO' inform national experts to determine which vaccines and schedules are best for their country.
He stressed that 'vaccination policy should be guided by rigorous, independent and transparent review of the best available science, not by political influence.'
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