A New South Wales mother-of-two has announced her intentions to start a childcare centre for unvaccinated children.
Juanita “Wanda” Halden, has expressed her desire to open Australia’s first anti-vaccination childcare centre in her local region of Northern Rivers in rural New South Wales.
The mother-of-two called the proposed plans an answer to the “human rights violations” that the government has implemented, namely the ‘no jab, no play, no pay’ policy which disallows children who have not been vaccination from attending a day-care or school with children who have.
Haden, who lives in Tabulam, NSW, made her views clear in her Facebook manifesto.
“I am a woman who answers to the creator — not corporation,” writes Halden, “Therefore I am the highest authority when it comes to making decisions concerned with my body or that of my property ‘my child’. I also value my ability to discern, research and understand the risks associated with my choices. Do not try to sway me. Or my rights. You will fail.”
Posting on Facebook, Halden alleged that she had received multiple expressions of interest from parents, childcare providers and property developers.
“I have been approached by a small number of mothers,” she said, “And I continue to receive messages and online comments from parents in support of this stance.”
Halden also alleged that at her proposed centre “participants would be in a position of less susceptibility to serious communicable diseases based on the knowledge that the parents of these children already have”.
“I object to forcible medicating of children,” said Halden, “I object to the medical slavery and abuse that these recent legislative acts are creating.”
But although Halden claims to have received ‘multiple’ expressions of interests from like minded parents, there are more voices of protest than of agreement.
Orthopaedic surgeon Dr John Cunningham spoke to the ABC on the matter, commenting that it was “one of the more stupid ideas I’ve ever heard of — a child care centre full of unvaccinated children would serve as a haven for disease.”
“Certainly if there was any outbreak of disease, that is certainly where it would come from or where it would go to very quickly.”
Whilst the Director of Public Health in NSW, Paul Corben, told The Daily Telegraph, “If you get a lot of unvaccinated children together, it’s like an incubator, a lot of vulnerable people together which supports the rapid transmission of vaccine-preventable diseases. It’s like throwing fuel on a fire, so it’s not a clever idea.”
Dr Brian Morton, the chair of the Australian Medical Association’s general practice council, called the idea “crazy”.
“It’s misinformed. It puts lives in danger. Not only the other children who will go there – but it’s putting other children who they mix with at school or wherever else… at risk,” said Dr Morton.
“The evidence is strong on the safety and efficacy of vaccination. The pity is they don’t look to diseases that occur in countries overseas that decimate young lives,” continued Dr Morton.
“We have recurrences of measles that kill children. There’s polio. There’s all the things that have been prevented through vaccination,” he told The Mail Online, “Those will come back if we don’t continue vaccinating and protecting children and keeping up herd immunity.”
Whilst NSW Opposition’s heath spokesman, Walt Secord, told the ABC, “Last week the State Government announced they were going to provide $20 million to help set up early child care centres across the state, and the Federal Government has responsibility for accreditation, so state and federal governments both have responsibility.”
“People in the developing world want to have their children vaccinated, but in New South Wales we have families who are refusing and now trying to set up a child care centre.
“It’s absolutely irresponsible.”
