BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Aug 21, CMC -The Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners (BAMP) is warning against the revival of long debunked theories, such as false links between the measles mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism, which have resurfaced primarily in the United States.
The BAMP said that there has been a sustained rise in requests to exempt children from routine immunisations noting that this could weaken Barbados’ long-established protection against vaccine-preventable diseases, as overseas misinformation increasingly shapes parental decisions.
It said that applications to opt out of the national immunisation schedule have increased annually over the past five years with BAMP president Dr Lynda Williams saying “this is, of course, concerning because, obviously, if there are more people asking for exemption… it’s more and more people are coming to say that they don’t want their children vaccinated. That’s the concern.”
In a press statement, BAMP restated its professional endorsement of the Barbados Childhood Immunisation Schedule, aligning itself fully with the island’s paediatricians.
“The Barbadian Association of Medical Practitioners recognises the resurgence of opinions, unsubstantiated anecdotes, and false information related to vaccines currently in the public domain,” said the BAMP president.
She said while this may reflect perceived issues ”in other countries reported in foreign media, BAMP wishes to highlight that in the Barbadian context, our national immunisation programme has not only improved the standard of our public health and prosperity over decades, but it has also saved the lives of many of our children.
“The protection provided by our national immunisation programme has not only caused a significant decrease in childhood mortality, but it has also spared us the sad consequences of vaccine-preventable diseases.
“BAMP restates our professional support for the current Barbados childhood immunisation schedule,” Dr. Williams added.
Associate lecturer and chief of medical staff at the BayView Hospital, Dr. Ranita Jhagroo, said the scientific evidence supporting the safety and effectiveness of combination vaccines, including the MMR, measles, mumps, rubella vaccine, is extensive, consistent, and has been gathered over several decades across millions of children worldwide.
“We continue to recommend that parents and guardians in Barbados follow the Ministry of Health and Wellness established immunisation schedule, administered at the appropriate ages and intervals, without unnecessary delay or separation of combined vaccines,” she added.
While the Ministry of Health manages official exemption figures, parents have increasingly approached clinics to opt out of standard childhood inoculations.
Under current guidelines, families requesting exemptions are placed through an educational programme designed to address their hesitation and reiterate the life-saving benefits of childhood vaccines, though allowances remain for specific religious objections.
The misinformation has been blamed for a 2025 measles outbreak which began in west Texas, and spread into neighbouring New Mexico and Oklahoma, with related cases also reported in Kansas. It occurred mainly in closeknit communities with low vaccination coverage, where many children and adults were unvaccinated.
The outbreak resulted in 2 298 confirmed infections, hospital admissions and three deaths: two unvaccinated children in Texas and an unvaccinated adult in New Mexico.
There have been 38 outbreaks across the US so far this year, with the US Centers for Disease Control recording 2 566 confirmed cases up to last week in 45 states, including Washington DC and New York City.
Addressing the root cause of the recent surge in hesitation, BAMP said the COVID-19 pandemic acted as a major catalyst, creating a parallel crisis of digital misinformation alongside the physical pathogen.
Dr Williams described the period as a double epidemic, in which the rapid evolution of scientific understanding coincided with the unprecedented reach of modern social platforms.
“COVID was two epidemics in one. You had a virus, but you also had viral misinformation that went out at about the same time,” Dr Williams said, while observing that much public anxiety stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of complex scientific achievements, such as messenger RNA (mRNA) and DNA vaccine technology, which had actually been in development for three decades before the pandemic.
“Because of the internet and social media, there was a lot of misinformation spread and continues to be spread by people who feel that they have a platform to do so. This was the first time the world faced a pandemic with the reach of social media being what it is.”
CMC/ag/ir/2026