Vaccinations and their risks

Preparation and Planning

The material in this lesson could be extended across two periods and you could introduce prior knowledge (e.g. the production of antibodies) as the lessons progress.

The MOD topic attached to this lesson shows the effect of a failing vaccination programme in Iraq, presenting a before and after scenario within a country whose healthcare provision was adequate in places but then collapsed, leaving the weakest members of society vulnerable to indigenous disease. The MOD has a primary duty of care to its troops and to protect the health of the peacekeeping force which was working to re-establish stability via healthcare, amongst other services to the local population.

Minimal preparation is required for this lesson beyond photocopying of relevant Student Worksheets. Unless you wish to, it is not necessary to enter into a political debate over the UK's presence in Iraq in order to review the effect on a population of a weakened vaccination programme.

About the MOD Topic

Since the end of major combat operations in April 2003, the UK has been playing a full part in the re-building of Iraq, both in terms of restoring essential infrastructure and services, and through the establishment of conditions for a stable Iraqi nation. British Forces, along with their US and other allies in the UN-mandated Multi-National Force have worked with the new, democratically-elected Iraqi Government to restore normality, maintain security and counter the insurgents determined to undermine the democratic process.

The level of devastation caused by Saddam Hussein's mismanagement and corruption was 'unimaginable'. Prior to the war Unicef (United Nations Children's Fund) had to vaccinate 4 million Iraqi children against polio, a disease that has been virtually wiped out in the developed world but which had seen an outbreak in Iraq as recently as 1999. Child mortality rates were high and though Baghdad blamed UN-imposed sanctions, independent charities felt that these were only part of the problem.

In 2004, at the end of the war, the situation had worsened. Doctors from the group Medact and other medical charities based in Iraq conducted surveys with international aid groups and Iraqi health workers. It exposed poor sanitation in many hospitals, shortages of drugs and qualified staff, huge gaps in services for mothers and children. It painted a picture of a health service struggling to cope and, because of the continuing violence, a population often afraid to leave their homes to seek medical help.

Twelve percent of Iraq's hospitals were damaged during the war and the country's two main public health laboratories were also destroyed. Health budgets had to be immediately increased and healthcare was made a priority of the new government. Whilst the situation was poor across the country the delivery of health care was worse in the areas of conflict. Priority had to be given to establishing the extent of casualties and providing urgent aid.

However during the two years following the conflict, 95% of children under five had been immunised, some 150 primary health care centres planned and a string of hospitals in the south of the country had been renovated. Part of the role of any peacekeeping force had to be to provide security and the infrastructure to permit these to be established; British troops accordingly contributed to the provision of field hospitals and security for medical staff.

Further information can be found at the following sites:
http://tinyurl.com/nnf7qw
http://tinyurl.com/3t6suw
http://tinyurl.com/mq6q95
(copy and paste url)

Further Opportunities for Learning

Students research the temporary side-effects some people feel after being vaccinated - what they might be and what causes them.

Invite students to research the specific diseases against which the MMR vaccine offers protection. Specifically their effects and the changing incidence of each. Students might draw a line graph plotting the number of cases of each year on year, marking onto this graph key events such as the 1993 and 2000 outbreaks of measles.

Students draw a poster for the classroom or doctor's surgery. This might promote one of the following:
The importance of childhood vaccinations
The successes of the UK's vaccination programme
How vaccines work
The risks / benefits of a vaccination programme (or of being vaccinated)

Students research the HIV virus and explore why scientists have found it difficult to produce a vaccine.

Use the characters outlined on Student Worksheet 2 to conduct a role-play, considering differing opinions on the subject of vaccination. Ask one member of each team to assume the role of a journalist and the other two to assume the role of one of the characters outlined. These might have differing, similar or confused views on the subject of vaccination. The journalist should interview both and note down their answers. Students may find it helpful to write down their own and their peers' arguments.

Student worksheet answers

Download the teachers notes PDF to access the answers for this lesson.