Public Health in the Age of Anxiety

"Public Health in the Age of Anxiety beautifully captures a tangled web of features and factors that contribute to the suboptimal use of immunizations. The authors demonstrate considerable expertise and sophistication in their respective analyses of this newsworthy subject matter, and fill an important gap in the literature. It is a valuable resource for any professional involved in immunization, and provides the best, bar none, overview of the issue in all its complexity." -- Jennifer Keelan, Department of Public Health, Concordia University of Edmonton

Public Health in the Age of Anxiety enhances both the public and scholarly understanding of the motivations behind vaccine hesitancy in Canada.

Controversies and scepticism surrounding vaccinations, though not new, have increasingly come to the fore as more individuals decide not to inoculate themselves or their children for cultural, religious, or other reasons. Their personal decisions put the rights of the individual on a collision course with public and community safety.

Public Health in the Age of Anxiety enhances both the public and scholarly understanding of the motivations behind vaccine hesitancy in Canada. The volume brings into conversation people working within such fields as philosophy, medicine, epidemiology, history, nursing, anthropology, public policy, and religious studies. The contributors critically analyse issues surrounding vaccine safety, the arguments against vaccines, the scale of anti-vaccination sentiment, public dissemination of medical research, and the effect of private beliefs on individual decision-making and public health. These essays model and encourage the type of productive engagement that is necessary to clarify the value of vaccines and reduce the tension between pro and anti-vaccination groups.