URK, Netherlands:In the Dutch coastal town of Urk, many people are still raised with a few corebeliefs: God, fishing and refusing to be vaccinated. Located in theconservative Protestant "Bible Belt" of the Netherlands, Urk suffereda measles outbreak in June because of low vaccination rates.
But as the WorldHealth Organization warns of a measles surge across Europe, there are hopesthat Urk can show how to turn things around. "At this point vaccination is60 percent and that's low compared with the rest of the country. We are thesecond-lowest in the Netherlands," Freek Brouwer, the Urk town councillorfor health told AFP at his office. Like other Bible Belt towns, Urk is part ofthe Dutch Orthodox Reformed Church, and religion plays a strong part in dailylife, alongside its traditional mainstay fishing industry.
Ninety-fourpercent of people in Urk regularly go to church, which has traditionallyopposed television, movies-and vaccination. "It's the idea that you cannotdo it because it is God who will take care of us-it's also the same withinsurance," says Brouwer, a member of the Dutch Christian Democraticparty, who is also a board member of the provincial public health service.
But these daysreligion is less of a factor than it used to be when it comes to vaccines, hesays. "Previously it had a lot to do with deeply religious motives, and Irespect that. Now we see it has much more to do with habit-'Mom and dad did notvaccinate, so why should I'?" "The reverends and the preachers fromthe churches that are against it, they don't preach it, they leave it to thepeople themselves."
'God is incharge'
Urk is only 80kilometers (50 miles) from Amsterdam but culturally it is far more distant fromthe liberal capital, where prostitution is legal and cannabis is sold openly.Seventy years ago Urk was still an island, before being joined to the Dutchmainland by a huge land reclamation project. It retains its own dialect, andmuch of its isolated mentality. On a busy market day by the harbor, many Urkresidents insisted religion was still the reason some people opposedimmunization.
"My childrenhave been vaccinated. But I think it's a personal thing for everybody,"said Yvonne Verbaan, 44. "But also,last week I read about a young boy who was also vaccinated but suffered anepileptic fit afterwards and had brain damage because of it. That does make youthink whether it is a good thing."
Shopping with hertwo sons, Jacoba Zoer, 37, agreed that "vaccination is a good thing and Ihave had my kids vaccinated." Asked why people don't vaccinate on Urk, shereplied: "People's religion is against it. They say God is in charge and'He will save me when I get ill'. I also think it (vaccination) is morecontroversial, not only on Urk."
The DutchNational Institute for Public Health and the Environment recorded 42 cases ofmeasles in the Netherlands in 2019 so far-compared with 24 in all of 2018. Ameasles outbreak in 2013-14 hit the Dutch Bible Belt, killing one child,hospitalising 182 children, and officially affecting 2,700 others, thoughofficials said the actual number was much higher because many did not go to thedoctor.
'Lot of fakenews'
CouncillorBrouwer meanwhile also blamed the internet for spreading 'anti-vaxxer' ideas."What we also see is that people are thinking 'this is poison, it is goingto cause autism'-a lot of fake news," he said. When nine children and oneadult came down with measles in June, he said it was a "positivesurprise" that many people came for free vaccinations offered by thegovernment.
"But therewere also people I know whose children got measles and didn't go to thedoctor-they said 'it's over in one or two weeks and they're not sick any more',so the number must be a little bit bigger." Brouwer rejected the idea ofmaking measles vaccination compulsory, as Germany has done, saying the goal wasto better inform parents.
"People haveto make their own choices based on the correct information-something like thatmust never be forced because people will resist," he said.
In Urk, doctorsare advising pregnant women, local authorities have held information eveningsfor parents, and they have distributed a newsletter with interviews leftdisabled by polio before the government introduced vaccinations. "We do itstep by step," said Brouwer. "It cannot be in a year that we aregoing to 90 percent, but if we go 10 or 20 percent higher, it's good for us tohave those kinds of goals." - AFP