Vaccine Safety Net
Web sites that provide information on vaccine safety and that adhere to good information practices
While many quality web sites offer science-based information about vaccine safety, others may provide unbalanced and misleading information. This can lead to undue fears, particularly among parents and patients.
To assist readers in identifying web sites that provide information on vaccine safety and that comply with good information practices, the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety has recommended a list of criteria to which sites providing information on vaccine safety should adhere.
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 web sites with regard to their adherence to the credibility and content criteria noted above.
Sites that do not appear in the list may not yet have been reviewed, or they may be currently under review, or they may have been reviewed but do not meet the credibility and content criteria noted above. Commercial sites are not listed as a matter of policy.
Requests for site evaluation should be sent to gvsi@who.int