Vaccination committees provide advice to governments on vaccine products and ‘recommend’ the addition of new vaccine products to national vaccination schedules.

These groups wield enormous power.   The members of these groups are part of a process that results in effectively mandating medical interventions (i.e. vaccinations) for healthy people.

The decisions these people make affect not only children and adults in their own countries, but can also impact internationally as the ripple effect of their decisions spreads around the world.

The powerful influence of these groups raises serious political and ethical questions about their impact on the bodily integrity of citizens, particularly ‘pre-citizens’, i.e. children.

As the decisions of these vaccination committees result in massive sales of vaccine products for pharmaceutical companies, it is vital that the process of adding vaccine products to national vaccination schedules is open and transparent, and that any potential ‘conflicts of interest’ of the members of these groups are accessible for public perusal.

For example, a register detailing the history of any relationships with the vaccine industry, e.g. research grants, consultancies, honorariums, plus any shareholdings in vaccine companies, royalties received, directorships etc, must be publicly accessible.  If a member indicates they have no potential conflicts of interest, this must be clearly recorded.

At this time, publicly accessible information on potential conflicts of interest for members of vaccination committees and groups is severely lacking.  

This is a matter I am continuing to investigate, see for example my post:  More re conflicts of interest and ‘the science of immunisation’.

Here are some committees/groups which are influential on vaccination policy: 

• Australia:
  • The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI)
  • Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC)
  • The Australian Academy of Science via the working group for its publication “The Science of Immunisation: Questions and Answers”

• United States:  The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)

• United Kingdom:  The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI)

I am in the process of contacting these committees/groups to seek transparency and accountability for vaccination practice.