STA, 19 June 2019 - The latest global study on attitudes towards immunisation shows that 13% of Slovenians believe that vaccines are not safe, almost double the world average.
The majority of Slovenians believe that vaccines are safe (70%), while 80% think that vaccines are efficient. Only 8% do not trust their efficiency, according to data released by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
Globally, 79% consider vaccination safe, while 14% are undecided. In terms of vaccine efficiency, the shares are similar - 84% agree that vaccines are efficient, 12% are undecided and 5% do not believe they work.
Confidence is at the lowest point in France, where 33% do not trust vaccination, while people in Bangladesh appear to be most trustful, with 97% of respondents there considering vaccines safe.
Among regions, confidence is lowest in Western Europe, where 22% believe that vaccines are not safe. On the other hand, the share of those who do not believe vaccines work is the highest in Eastern Europe - 17%.
The survey, which involved more than 140,000 respondents in 144 countries, was conducted by the Gallup World Poll institute for the British NGO Wellcome between April and December 2018.
Imran Khan of the Wellcome institute said that people from countries with many infectious diseases tended to trust in immunisation more, which was probably the result of seeing the consequences of non-vaccination first-hand, French news agency AFP reported.
According to him, the differences are bigger than expected, with more developed countries recording higher levels of mistrust in vaccination due to more developed healthcare systems, slimmer chances of getting infected or dying as a result of non-vaccination, and the efforts of anti-vaccination groups.
The full report on how the world feels about science and health can be read here
