Thursday, August 26, 2010

September Meeting Announcement: Navigating Vaccination Decisions

On Tuesday, September 7, the DC Chapter of the Holistic Moms Network will welcome Barbara Loe Fisher, Co-Founder and President of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), who will speak on the topic of “Navigating Vaccination Decisions”.

The NVIC is a national, non-profit educational organization founded in 1982. The oldest and largest consumer organization advocating the institution of vaccine safety and informed consent protections in the mass vaccination system, NVIC is responsible for launching the vaccine safety and informed consent movement in America in the early 1980's. The NVIC is dedicated to the prevention of vaccine injuries and deaths through public education and to defending the informed consent ethic. As an independent clearinghouse for information on diseases and vaccines, NVIC does not promote the use of vaccines and does not advise against the use of vaccines. NVIC supports the availability of all preventive health care options, including vaccination, and the right of consumers to make educated, voluntary health care choices.

Barbara Loe Fisher is co-founder and president of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC). She is the co-author of DPT: A Shot in the Dark (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1985; Warner 1986; Avery 1991); author of The Consumer's Guide to Childhood Vaccines (NVIC 1997) and Vaccines, Autism & Chronic Inflammation: The New Epidemic (2008). During the early 1980's, she helped launch a grassroots movement to bring the issue of vaccine safety to public attention. She served on the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (1988-1991); the Institute of Medicine Vaccine Safety Forum (1995-1998) where she has helped to coordinate five public workshops on vaccine safety issues; the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (1999-2003); the Vaccine Policy Analysis Collaborative (2002-2005) and is a member of the Consumer’s United for Evidence-Based Healthcare, Cochrane Collaboration – U.S. She has represented health care consumers at many scientific conferences, government meetings and legislative hearings and is a featured speaker at health care conferences in the U.S., Canada and Europe. As NVIC's public spokesperson, she has contributed to numerous newspaper and magazine articles about vaccine safety and appears on national radio and television programs discussing vaccines and diseases and advocating informed consent to vaccination.

Our “Navigating Vaccination Decisions” meeting with Barbara Loe Fisher will take place on Tuesday, September 7 from 6:30-8:30 pm at the Cleveland Park Public Library, 3310 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008. There is street parking in Cleveland Park, and the library is also metro accessible through the Cleveland Park/Red Line stop.

August Meeting Recap: Ice Cream Social

We had a terrific social in August, with many, many varieties of ice cream to try. The ice cream made from coconut milk seemed to be the favorite. We also had a terrific discussion on holistic first aid, and shared tips and ideas with each other.

Thank you to all the members and attendees who brought such tasty treats!