Germany to fine parents who refuse vaccination advice
Germany are looking to put parents under yet more pressure to vaccinate their children. A draft bill proposed by the Health Minister will require day care centres to ‘grass-up’ parents who have not sought vaccination advice from their healthcare providers. This draconian action follows a recent outbreak of measles, including the death of one woman, which has been attributed to the measles. The legislation, if passed, will require a certificate from the child’s healthcare provider to be shown to childcare centre staff to prove that the parents have sought vaccination advice. If not shown, the childcare provider will be forced to report the parents, who face a fine of up to €2,500, and also refuse their child a place. Vaccination advice has been a requirement since 2015, but not until now have childcare centres been given the power to refuse a child a place. It is surely only a matter of time before vaccination is mandated in Germany unless freedom of rights protesters can halt the progress of the draft bill. This move comes in the same month as Italy made vaccination compulsory, whilst in Sweden calls for mandatory vaccination were thankfully rejected. It’s time for people power to protect the rights and freedoms of parents once more.
Antibiotic alternatives proposed
In 2014, the World Health Organization warned that we are looking at a future in which antibiotics no longer work and even minor infections could kill. With the increasing resistance of bacteria to today’s antibiotics, scientists are continuing to search for ways to combat infection. New research has found a combination of low concentration organic acids and metals to be effective at combatting bacteria on agricultural crops. It is believed the combination could also be used to support human health. As further probing continues into replacements for antibiotics, researchers announced they have modified the antibiotic vancomycin to make it even more powerful in order to fight antibiotic resistance. Lead researcher Dale Boger has called the new drug “magic”. The modified drug uses three different ways to kill bacteria, making it harder for them to develop resistance. Whilst this new drug may be life-saving in acute circumstances, the onus is on us individually to reduce the need for antibiotics by supporting our immune systems to fight infection naturally.
EU restarting glyphosate approval discussions
Fresh fear arises after EU Commissioners agree to restart discussions on the renewal of approvals for glyphosate use in the EU for another 10 years. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate as a “probable carcinogen” in 2015. However, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) declared the controversial herbicide to be safe in March 2017, leading the way for renewed discussions. Key evidence presented by Dr Christopher Portier, an independent, leading environmental health and carcinogenicity specialist, who has been actively defending the IARC assessment in the glyphosate re-licensing process in the EU, has written to European Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker. In his letter, he states that the public agencies who performed the scientific assessment of glyphosate's toxicity in the EU have failed to identify eight cases of statistically significant increase in tumours following glyphosate exposure in the confidential data set provided by industry. He gives further evidence that casts the EU agencies responsible for assessing the scientific risk of glyphosate in a very dim light. An EU wide petition is currently calling for EU member states to ban glyphosate use in the EU once and for all. We strongly advise that interested parties consider Dr Portier’s letter before signing.
China to overcome resistance to GMO
The Chinese government is to conduct a survey of Chinese consumers to test public acceptance of GMO foods. This move comes following news that consumers are turning their backs on GMO oils. Given that the merger between Syngenta AG and the China National Chemical Corp is nearing completion, the Chinese Government appears to be trying to avoid a very costly and embarrassing situation.
Comments
your voice counts
31 May 2017 at 7:40 pm
Germany will become a dictatorship once they force the first child to be vaccinated against their parents wishes.
Glyphosate has proved to be a toxin and a possible carcinogen, the EU is likely to give this toxic chemical a full ten years to further pollute the world and above all the humans.
GMO,s are afraid to label their products because they know that people will not eat artificial food, China must stop their attempts at changing the minds of their own population !
01 June 2017 at 10:36 am
I would have thought Germany would look to its past before overriding its citizens human rights!
01 June 2017 at 11:20 am
Glyphosate
It seems to me that there are three reasons not to sign a petition to ban glyphosate:
1. The fact that it has adverse effects on human health seems unremarkable. I suppose all herbicides do. The only question is can it be used in a way that is safe? This question has not been adddressed. .
2. In reality glyphosate is not (or rarely?) used alone and data on its safety is therefore of very limited significasnce. I understand that available data indicate that the activators used with glyphosate in practice significantly affect its activity and safety therefore it seems clear that what is needed is data on the possibility of safe use of Roundup and any other formulations that incorporate glyphosate.
3. There is no consideration of the options if glyphosate is banned. Will more dangerous chemical be used instead?. At least glyphosate is a devil we know a bit about.
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