Vaccine Safety Net
Websites providing information on vaccine safety which adhere to good information practices
The World Wide Web is a mine of useful information on various topics, but also contains websites of dubious quality. While many quality web sites offer science-based information about vaccine safety, other sites provide unbalanced and misleading information. This can lead to undue fears, particularly among parents and patients.
To assist readers in identifying web sites providing information on vaccine safety that comply with good information practices, the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety has recommended a list of criteria that sites providing information on vaccine safety should adhere to.
The recommended criteria fall into four categories:
- Essential criteria i.e. with respect to credibility
- Important criteria i.e. with respect to content
- Practical criteria i.e. with respect to accessibility
- Desired criteria i.e with respect to design
WHO has reviewed a number of sites for adherence to the credibility and content criteria noted above.
Sites not listed do not appear because either they have not been reviewed, they are currently being reviewed, or they have been reviewed and do not meet the credibility and content criteria noted above. Commercial sites are not listed as a matter of policy.
Listed sites are re-evaluated for their adherence to the credibility and content criteria every two years. Evaluation dates are included withinin each site description.
It should be noted that the provision of a link from the WHO web site to other sites does not indicate endorsement of those sites by WHO, and WHO accepts no responsibility for the validity or accuracy of their content. The depth and breadth of content varies according to the type of organization and the resources within that organization available for web management.
Requests for site evaluation should be sent to vaccsafety@who.int