page_title: Vaccine hesitancy
section_title: War
hierarchical_section_title: Vaccine hesitancy / War
caption_attribution_description: English: This cartoon depicts a representation of Rudyard Kipling's famous poem The White Man's Burden. Originally published in February, 1899 the poem's philosophy quickly developed as the United States response to annexation of the Philippines. The United States used the "white man's burden" as an argument for imperial control of the Philippines and Cuba on the basis of moral necessity. It was now the United States' moral duty to develop and modernize the conquest lands in order to help carry the foreign barbarians to civilization. Русский: «Бремя белого человека» — Джон Булль и Дядя Сэм, тащат цветные народы к Цивилизации. Карикатура Виктора Гиллама, журнал Judge 1 апреля 1899.
context_page_description: Vaccine hesitancy, also known as anti-vaccination or anti-vax, is a reluctance or refusal to be vaccinated or to have one's children vaccinated against contagious diseases despite the availability of vaccination services. It is identified by the World Health Organization as one of the top ten global health threats of 2019. The term encompasses outright refusal to vaccinate, delaying vaccines, accepting vaccines but remaining uncertain about their use, or using certain vaccines but not others. Arguments against vaccination are contradicted by overwhelming scientific consensus about the safety and efficacy of vaccines.
  Hesitancy primarily results from public debates around the medical, ethical and legal issues related to vaccines. Vaccine hesitancy stems from multiple key factors including a person's lack of confidence, complacency, and convenience. It has existed since the invention of vaccination, and pre-dates the coining of the terms "vaccine" and "vaccination" by nearly 80 years. The specific hypotheses raised by anti-vaccination advocates have been found to change over time. Vaccine hesitancy often results in disease outbreaks and deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases.
context_section_description: The United States has a very complex history with compulsory vaccination, particularly in enforcing compulsory vaccinations both domestically and abroad to protect American soldiers during times of war. There are hundreds of thousands of examples of soldier deaths that were not the result of combat wounds, but were instead from disease. Among wars with high death tolls from disease is the Civil War where an estimated 620,000 soldiers died from disease. American soldiers in other countries have spread diseases that ultimately disrupted entire societies and healthcare systems with famine and poverty.
caption: Judge's cartoon of Rudyard Kipling's famous poem "The White Man's Burden" published in 1899. The poem's philosophy quickly was utilized to explain/justify the United States response to annexation of the Philippines. The United States used the "white man's burden" as an argument for imperial control of the Philippines and Puerto Rico on the basis of moral necessity to ensure the spread of civility and modernity.
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