Cultural Perspectives on Vaccination - An Ethical Dilemma?

Abstract

Public opinions about vaccination are often the result of divergences between different cultural points of view and value systems. Some key cultural perspectives on vaccination are derived from (1) individual rights and positions of public health systems towards vaccination, (2) religious views and objections to vaccines, and (3) suspicion and distrust on vaccines between different cultures and communities worldwide. Vaccine hesitancy, defined by the WHO as "delay in accepting or refusing vaccines, despite the availability of vaccination services" is a decision-making process, which depends mainly on trust in the vaccine as well as in the healthcare providers. The hesitancy about vaccination, even in people working in the healthcare field, or the reluctance of parents to vaccinate their children, is one of the reasons that have led to lower immunization coverage rates.
From this perspective, a precise understanding of vaccination by the population is partly the result of a broader cultural and psychological position and, as such, is unlikely to change only through appeals to reasoning or evidence. Developing interventions to address vaccine hesitancy in different communities may require a significantly different approach than they would be in fully assimilated groups, with the need to start by finding out about the culture, fears, values and priorities of that community