WHO slams Trump’s claims on paracetamol, vaccines

The World Health Organisation, WHO, has strongly responded to recent remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump suggesting that paracetamol use during pregnancy and routine childhood vaccines could cause autism.

The health body stressed that there is no consistent scientific evidence to support such claims and warned that misinformation could undermine decades of progress in global health.

Speaking at a press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday, WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic clarified that while a few observational studies had questioned whether paracetamol use in pregnancy might be linked to developmental issues, the overwhelming body of research has found no clear or consistent association. “If there were a strong connection, it would have been identified across multiple studies over time,” he stated.

He emphasized that medicines during pregnancy should always be used with caution and only under medical supervision, particularly in the first trimester, but rejected any claims of a proven link to autism.

Jasarevic also firmly dismissed suggestions that vaccines cause autism. “The WHO’s immunisation schedules are based on decades of research and evidence,” he said. “These vaccines have prevented more than 150 million deaths worldwide over the past 50 years. The benefits of vaccines far outweigh unsubstantiated fears.”

Backing this position, Kate O’Brien, Director of WHO’s Department of Immunisation, Vaccines and Biologicals, issued a detailed statement warning of the growing threat of misinformation.

She described vaccines as “one of the most powerful and cost-effective tools in public health,” noting that they save over five lives every minute, prevent disability, protect families from extreme poverty, and strengthen economies.

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According to O’Brien, global vaccination efforts have led to extraordinary achievements: more than 18 million people who would have been paralysed by polio can now walk, over 90 million lives have been saved from measles, and more than a million future deaths from cervical cancer have already been prevented.

She added that vaccines have spared millions from severe illnesses such as meningitis, pneumonia, whooping cough, diphtheria, and tetanus.

Despite these successes, O’Brien warned that misinformation is jeopardising progress. “The consequences of vaccine misinformation are not hypothetical—they are real and tragic,” she said.

She highlighted recent cases of healthy children dying from measles infections in countries where vaccine uptake has declined, including wealthy nations such as the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

O’Brien explained that childhood vaccination rates, once very high in many countries, are now slipping below safe thresholds.

In some communities, coverage is substantially below the 95 percent level needed to maintain herd immunity against measles and other diseases. This drop has already triggered a significant rise in cases and deaths worldwide.

She concluded with a warning that the world is risking decades of hard-won progress not because of a lack of effective vaccines, but because of the rapid spread of misinformation.

“Both misinformation and disinformation travel faster and further than truth. Unless tackled, they threaten to reverse the historic gains humanity has made against preventable diseases.”

NAN