A new analysis by the WHO has concluded that there is no link between vaccines and autism, contrary to the theory now being promoted by the main health agency in the United States, the head of the World Health Organization said on Thursday.
"Today, the WHO is publishing a new analysis from the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety which, based on the available data, has found no causal link between vaccines and autism," said the organization's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at a press conference in Geneva.
This committee reviewed 31 studies conducted in several countries and published between 2010 and 2025 to examine whether there could be a link between autism and vaccines that are used during childhood and pregnancy and that may contain thimerosal, a preservative used in vaccines, and aluminium adjuvants.
"The committee concluded that the evidence shows no link between vaccines and autism, including those containing aluminium or thimerosal," noted the WHO chief.
He indicated that this is the fourth analysis of this type to be carried out, following similar studies in 2002, 2004 and 2012. "All have reached the same conclusion: vaccines do not cause autism," insisted Mr. Tedros, recalling that vaccines save lives.
He further explained that "over the past 25 years, mortality among children under five has decreased by more than half, from 11 million deaths per year to 4.8 million" and asserted that "vaccines are the main reason for this."
The publication of this analysis comes as the main US health agency (CDC) is now relaying a false theory about the supposed links between vaccines and autism, a reversal driven by Robert Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump's Secretary of Health.
Years of research have demonstrated that there is no causal link between vaccinations and autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders.
The false theory linking the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine to autism originates from a rigged study published in 1998, and since withdrawn, the results of which have been repeatedly refuted by subsequent work.
"In 1998, a study published in The Lancet claimed to establish a link between vaccines and autism spectrum disorders. This study turned out to be fraudulent and was retracted, but the damage was done and this idea persists," lamented the head of the WHO on Thursday.
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