EU commissioner declared war on antivaxers

Vytenis Andriukaitis, in charge of Health, made two though intervention against the category of people seen as «irresponsible» in Brussels

Vytenis Andriukaitis

by Emanuele Bonini

Wake up, folks! «Vaccines are one of the safest and most cost-effective ways to ensure public health and avoid preventable diseases», so what's wrong with you? The European Commission went on the attack of anti-vaccination movement. «Anti-vaccination myths and lack of knowledge can lead to people refusing vaccines, which in turn might open the door to disease outbreaks»,the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis, said yesterday. It wasn't the first time he took position against the people in favour of abolishing the preparations that provide active acquired immunity to certain diseases. «Shame on you antivaxers!», the EU commissioner previously said in tweet posted on his official personal account.

In papers today: #Measles epidemic in Italy. 1st measles death in Portugal. Measles rise in Germany. Deplorable. Shame on you #antivaxers! pic.twitter.com/OvSuHmHHHw

— Vytenis Andriukaitis (@V_Andriukaitis) April 20, 2017

«It is distressing that some public figures irresponsibly use their position to contribute to distrust of vaccines», Andriukaitis then stated on the occasion of the European Immunisation Week. He recalled that the benefits of vaccines are a matter of fact, not a matter of opinion. About facts, «measles caused an estimated 2.6 million deaths each year, before widespread vaccination was put in place in 1980». Today the reality speaks different. «Thanks to Maurice Hilleman's measles vaccine this highly contagious disease is now preventable». Again, smallpox, once one of the world's most devastating diseases, was declared eradicated in 1980 following a global immunisation campaign led by World Health Organization (WHO).

One million migrants blocked in Libya, warned the EU

Representatives from the European Commission and its External Action Service admitted there is a potentially explosive situation on the other side of the Mediterranean sea.

by Emanuele Bonini

Nearly one million people are blocked in Libya and are ready to come to Europe, the European Commission warned today. Migrants and asylum seekers are in special detention centres, and not all of them is controlled by the Libyan authorities. If the situation should get deteriorated, it would be impredictable for everybody to imagine what could be. In 2016 more the 180,000 arrivals from Lybia have been registered, but the situation could radically change, said the deputy Director-General for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Maciej Popowski, during a public hearing hosted by the Committee on Civil Liberties of the European Parliament.

«Nearly one million people are blocked in Libya, so far. Not all of them come to Libya with the idea of reaching Europe, but now there is no job in the country». So what? The European Commission is trying to manage the migration crisis by acting in remote control. «We operate from Tunis for security reasons», he told MEPs. How the EU can get the situation under control in such a way? They can't, as recognised by  ‎the Desk Officer for Libya at European External Action Service (EEAS), Andrea Pontiroli. The situation in the country «is not progressing, and tension rise», he said. The country remains politically fragile, and a real fully in charge government is not in place. Economically speaking, risks of «collapse» are just behind the corner: Libya based most of national economy on oil production, and now it is shrinking with no alternatives made available. Furthermore, when it comes to migrants it has to be recognised that the phenomenon is not nationally controlled. Detention centres for refugee in Libya «are often controlled by militias instead of State», the EEAS representative admitted. So Libya is nothing but a time bomb ready to explode at any moment.