New Delhi: The World Health Organization has once again pushed back against the persistent belief that vaccines play a role in autism, releasing a fresh review that reinforces what decades of scientific work have already shown: there is no connection between the two. The latest analysis arrives at a time when the debate has resurfaced in the United States, partly because the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently altered some of the language on its website—changes that critics say weaken its long-standing, evidence-based stance that vaccines do not cause autism.
The shift unsettled many public health experts, especially as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now a central figure in national health policy, has repeatedly echoed misleading claims linking immunisation to neurodevelopmental disorders.
Speaking in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addressed the issue head-on. He stressed that the new review from the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety examined the best available evidence and reached a clear conclusion: autism is not a vaccine side effect.
According to Tedros, the committee evaluated 31 studies conducted over 15 years across several countries, focusing in particular on two components often targeted by vaccine conspiracy theories—thiomersal, a preservative used to keep multi-dose vials free from contamination, and aluminium-based adjuvants that help boost immune response. None of the research supported a causal link between these ingredients and autism.
Tedros noted that this is not the first time such a review has been carried out. Similar assessments in 2002, 2004, and 2012 reached the same verdict, yet misinformation continues to linger. One reason is the infamous 1998 paper that falsely tied the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine to autism. The study was later exposed as fraudulent and withdrawn, but the narrative it created proved difficult to dismantle.
The renewed WHO findings arrive as vaccine skepticism gains political momentum in parts of the U.S. The CDC’s website edits — which alarmed many within the agency — were viewed as a dangerous step backward after years spent trying to counter misinformation.
Tedros closed by reminding the public of the broader picture: global child mortality has plunged dramatically over the past quarter-century, in large part because of widespread vaccination. Today’s immunisations protect against dozens of life-threatening diseases, from measles to cervical cancer to malaria. “Vaccines remain one of humanity’s most powerful tools,” he said.
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