Anti-science, anti-government tactics seen at heart of health emergencies

Food defense information from Department of Homeland Security

Are you against vaccinations?  Do you believe the government is hiding facts about disease and related issues or exaggerating claims about it?  Do you deny climate change is in part caused by man's behaviors?  If so, you are among those seen as part of the growth in health emergencies.

It is a world problem, experts say. The growth of skepticism and those who foster beliefs that are contrary to science can hurt many people.


In fact there are doctors who now say that those who oppose vaccinations should not be allowed to practice medicine and should have their medical licenses revoked.

At the same time, where there is money to be made, some say that creates the rise in quackery, people who cast doubt on traditional medicine and make money by creating their own products that are supposed to cure, or alleviate, medical problems.

Those who worry about climate change's impact on health and the spread of diseases caused by the refusal to vaccinate against the common diseases of childhood, some of which are said to kill, can cause a form of intellectual panic.  People who fear for the health of their children begin taking sides, all the while the loudest opponents of science find the money and attention can be greater on the side of the negative, i.e. those who counter mainstream scientific thought.

The mainstream press may report Ebola, the concerns about tacking the disease at its source, all the while politicians will ask for the borders of the states to be sealed in order to keep Ebola out of the United States.  Yet the science of the disease was discussed repeatedly as not airborne and that the cure for the disease was to center attention on Africa, sending medical personnel and medicine to the disease origins.

Climate change, scientists tell us, brings movement of populations and environmental difficulties.  Environmental disasters, hurricanes, and the like can cause people to migrate to places where there are disease outbreaks.  If they do not have proper medicine, vaccinations and controls, the disease can spread from country to country.

The anti-government group lumps experts from various categories as trying to hide the truth as part of a conspiracy, while the individual who touts this belief is making money writing and fomenting unrest by way of alternative "news"even as others question the rising unrest that brings doubt about government's announcements and actions.

This issue can impact messages from government agencies on everything from disease outbreaks to food security.

These are the concerns espoused by scientists, that ignoring science is a world peril.  And the many thousands of years that it has taken to accumulate scientific data that establishes certain truths can be undone by the voices of the angry, the suspicious and the greedy, even as the world bends from the heavy weight of it.  All the while science is relegated to the back pages, unread and ignored.