Media/Policy Watch
This section is intended to alert readers to substantive news, analysis and opinion from the general media on vaccines, immunization, global; public health and related themes. Media Watch is not intended to be exhaustive, but indicative of themes and issues CVEP is actively tracking. This section will grow from an initial base of newspapers, magazines and blog sources, and is segregated from Journal Watch above which scans the peer-reviewed journal ecology.

We acknowledge the Western/Northern bias in this initial selection of titles and invite suggestions for expanded coverage. We are conservative in our outlook in adding news sources which largely report on primary content we are already covering above. Many electronic media sources have tiered, fee-based subscription models for access. We will provide full-text where content is published without restriction, but most publications require registration and some subscription level.

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BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/
Accessed 28 February 2015
28 February 2015 Last updated at 17:53 ET
Ebola outbreak: Sierra Leone vice-president quarantined
The vice-president of Sierra Leone has put himself into quarantine after one of his bodyguards died from Ebola.
Samuel Sam-Sumana said he would stay out of contact with others for 21 days as a precaution.
There was optimism the virus was on the decline in Sierra Leone at the end of last year but there has been a recent increase in confirmed cases.
Nearly 10,000 people have died in the outbreak, the vast majority in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
‘Taking no chances’
Mr Sam-Sumana said on Saturday that he had chosen to be quarantined to “lead by example” after the death of his bodyguard, John Koroma, last week.
He told Reuters news agency that he was “very well” and showing no signs of the illness, but said he did not want to “take chances”.
His staff have also been placed under observation.
He is the country’s first senior government figure to subject himself to a voluntary quarantine…

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Financial Times
http://www.ft.com/home/uk
Accessed 28 February 2015
Ebola spurs healthcare insurance debate
16 February 2015
The one good thing to come from the Ebola outbreak in west Africa is a fresh debate on the urgency of improving access to basic healthcare and, in turn, the need for moves towards universal heathcare coverage. Years of neglect of prevention and treatment help explain why the lethal infection claimed thousands of lives in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, whereas it was effectively contained in Europe and North America. To some, the events have underlined the broader benefits of investment in health as a way not only to cut illness and death but also to support broader development. Given the poor response, Ebola has sharply set back economies in the region.

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Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/
Accessed 28 February 2015
Naturopaths–Not What The Doctor Ordered For Vaccine Exemptions
There are lots of reasons why measles, having gone to Disneyland, is enjoying a comeback around the United States and Canada. Unfounded fears of autism scare some parents. Others buy the daffy conspiracy theory that pharmaceutical companies are just pushing vaccination to make a buck. Some parents invoke religious concerns […]
Arthur Caplan, Contributor Feb 24, 2015
Anti-Vaxxers Are Spreading Concern
Does the anti-vaxxer movement reflect a generation of parents who are less concerned with the public good?
Neil Howe, Contributor Feb 27, 2015

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The Guardian
http://www.guardiannews.com/
Accessed 28 February 2015
Measles death in Germany prompts calls for mandatory vaccinations
Death of 18-month-old boy is the first fatality among 574 reported cases in the country’s worst measles outbreak in more than a decade
23 February 2015

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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Accessed 28 February 2015
Fatality Rate Is Falling in West African Ebola Clinics
New York Times | 26 February 2015
As the Ebola epidemic in West Africa wanes, physicians from Doctors Without Borders are confronting a mystery: More of their patients are surviving. They do not know why. “The reasons are really unclear,” said Dr. Gilles van Cutsem, who helped run the agency’s response in Liberia and gave a presentation describing its experience at an AIDS conference here.

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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Accessed 28 February 2015
Oregon considers banning most vaccine exemptions
Jennifer Margulis has her kids vaccinated and she gets shots herself. But she doesn’t like the idea of government telling parents they must get their children immunized…
Associated Press | Health & Science | Feb 28, 2015