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March 2009

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Measles outbreak or convenient excuse to push compulsory vaccination?
Make no mistake folks, the measles 'outbreak' in Beerwah QLD which has been injecting waves of fear via biased media reports was orchestrated for one reason and one reason only - to force the issue of compulsory vaccination. There are polls running now in SA and VIC regarding the usefulness of mandating vaccines and many of the so-called opinion pieces being placed in newspapers which are not allowing the AVN equal space are also calling for vaccines to be mandated as are many public health officials.

Getting active - getting organised

I am planning on organising a protest / lobby meeting on the Sunshine Coast sometime late next week to discuss tactics we can use to combat this anti-health-choice campaign. I need some people to help me with things like venues, publicity and perhaps a place to stay as well as the AVN's coffers are always emptier than we would wish them to be. We need to make a bold, clear and immediate statement that these outbreaks do not originate from the unvaccinated, that parents have the final say as to whether their children's bodies or their own bodies are injected with poisons and nobody - not the government, not the medical community and certainly not the media have any right to interfere in those rights.

We did not succeed in preventing the policy (not legislation - remember) that required hospital staff to be vaccinated. As we said at the time, our silence on that issue would have further ramifications. We are experiencing the beginning of that now. If teachers and school staff can be forced to vaccinate - how much more time do we have before our children are also in that situation? Days or weeks in QLD - not much longer for the rest of us, I fear.

If you want to help or be involved with this effort, please email me privately on [email protected] or call on 0414 872 032 (it's the weekend so I may not be in the office). The AVN needs everyone to come together on this effort - if compulsory vaccination gets a toe-hold in Australia, it's all over bar the shouting. Take it from someone who grew up in the US where it IS compulsory - once it's in, we will never be able to get rid of it.

I hope to hear from you soon.

All the best,
Meryl
 

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AVN donation
 
Update on Fundraising for Autism Ad
clip_coins$5,000 down - $45,000 to go - can you help?

Last week, a fantastic ad ran in USA Today regarding a court case in the US where it was deemed that a child's autism had been directly caused by vaccination - the second time in a year this has occurred. The ad was huge news in the US and has instigated a lot of talk and media coverage ever since as well as putting some emphasis on the need for independent studies of vaccinated vs unvaccinated children.

If you missed seeing the ad in the last edition of this e-newsletter, you can catch it on our home page - www.avn.org.au.

Generation Rescue, the organisation which funded and produced the ad and which is supporting many families of autisic children has been extremely generous. Not only are they allowing us to reprint this in an Australian publication or publications - they are also saying that if we are able to raise 2/3 of the $53,000 necessary for this campaign, they will give us the other 1/3!

This means that instead of raising the entire $53,000, we only need to raise $35,000. But time is running out and all we've raised so far is $5,000.

This e-newsletter is going out to over 4,000 people. In addition, it gets forwarded to 3 other lists with a total of approximately 2,500 people. Just $20 from each of you will mean that we could pay for an ad which would educate hundreds of thousands of Australians about the real connection between the administration of vaccines and the explosion of Autism-Spectrum disorders (ASDs) currently being experienced in every developed country - including Australia.
 
Strike a blow for freedom of choice - for only $20! We need your donation by the end of next week at the latest so please don't delay and if you are in a position to give more, please do so.
 
Funds can be deposited into the following account either over the counter at a branch or via Internet banking (please email Judy at [email protected] to let her know that your donation is directed to this fund and please also leave your name on the deposit so we can send you a receipt).
 
Australian Vaccination Network Gift Fund
Westpac
BSB 032591
Account - 196282
 
You can also click here to donate via our web site or call us during business hours on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday on 02 6687 1699 with your credit card details or FAX that information to 02 6687 2032. However you do it, please do it today!

One other note: Many people who have donated over the last few days (thank you all so much!) did not specify that their donations were for the autism ad. If you meant your donation to be for the ad, please email [email protected] and let her know. Otherwise, the money will go towards helping the AVN continue.
 
 
AVN donation
 
Annual General Meeting - Please attend!
March 23, 2009 - held online
All AVN members should have received a proxy form in their latest Inside Edition to inform them that the AVN is holding its AGM on March 23rd. I would personally like to encourage all of you to attend this meeting (it is held online in much the same way that the webinars will be - you just need to contact [email protected] so she can arrange an email invitation for you) since we value your input highly. If you can also nominate for a committee position, that would be great as our support base on the committee is a bit sparse at present. Meetings are held bi-monthly so the commitment on your part will be minimal. Please, either return your proxy forms with your nomination or contact us on 02 6687 1699 for further information.
 
Great article on measles outbreak-finally!
The page this article is on contains a poll on vaccination. Please click the link below to visit it.

You can also have your say on this excellent piece by contacting them at:

Sunshine Coast Daily - [email protected] - they also have a letters phone line where you can call comments in - 1800 244 654 and an SMS line for SMS'ing feedback.

Measles mum says it's only natural

7th March 2009

By Janine Hill

The mother of two Beerwah school children diagnosed with measles has queried Queensland Health's "panic mode" reaction to the outbreak of the illness.

The number of confirmed cases of measles climbed to 13 yesterday as Queensland Health factored in three cases which occurred in early February but had only just been reported, according to a departmental spokesperson.

Twelve of the confirmed cases are Beerwah High students and the other a Beerwah primary student. Six cases, including two at the high school, remain under investigation, and a Caloundra student tested for measles has been cleared.

The Beerwah mother, who asked not to be named to protect the identities of her children, said her son and daughter, aged seven and 17, became sick in the first week of the school year.

Her daughter was initially told by a doctor that she had a 24 hour virus and initial tests on her son at Caloundra Hospital showed that he did not have measles but a second round of tests on both children confirmed they had the illness.

She kept both children home from school prior to their diagnosis because they were simply too sick to go, although the teenage girl did venture to school one day to collect a jumper.

The mother, who has doubts about the diagnosis because of the inconsistent test results and varying symptoms, said none of the other six people in her household, including another child, had become ill, leaving her sceptical about the contagiousness of the illness

And she could not understand why the primary school had not been put through the same rigorous vaccination scanning program as the high school if the illness was as contagious as health authorities have claimed.

"It looks like it's been panic mode to me," she said.

"I think they've gone into a bit of a mania about it."

Queensland Health defended its decision not to apply the same screening process to Beerwah primary, saying that the child had not attended school while infectious.

The mother is also angry that another of her children was vaccinated without her permission during the scanning program at the high school.

"To me, that's illegal. I'll be asking some questions about it," she said.

The woman, who is studying naturopathy and homeopathy, said she had "no regrets whatsoever" about her decision to cease vaccinating her children after her daughter suffered an adverse reaction to a triple antigen vaccination at 12 months which left her with a permanent disability.

She said both children had been homoeopathically immunised.

She said the children had experienced different symptoms. Both had temperatures in the vicinity of 40 degrees but her son experienced vomiting, coughing, a runny noise and a heat like rash almost immediately, while her daughter felt ill for some days, without vomiting or a runny nose, prior to the appearance of what appeared to be a heat rash.

She treated their illness with vitamins C, A and Echinacea and they have since returned to school.

She is yet unsure how her children contracted the illness.

A Queensland Health spokesperson said one of the cases had been infected while overseas some time ago, but the mother said her family had neither travelled nor been in contact with anyone who had recently been overseas.
 
AVN donation
 
AVN Webinars 
Interactive online seminars
webinar globeWe will be hosting our first webinars in March and are taking bookings now. The great thing about webinars is you don't need to travel to participate! All you need is a computer with speakers; or a computer and access to a phone line. Cable modem, DSL or better Internet connection is reccomended.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees: Windows� 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista 
 
Macintosh�-based attendees: Mac OS� X 10.4 (Tiger�) or newer
 
Participants wishing to connect to audio using VoIP will need a fast Internet connection, a microphone and speakers (a USB headset is recommended).

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

The schedule is as follows: 

An introduction to vaccination
presented by Meryl Dorey
Wednesday, March 19th and March 26th
from 7:30 PM AEST to 9:00 PM AEST
 
A 2-part series covering many of the important issues involved in the decision-making process when deciding whether or not to vaccinate their children or themselves.
Each session will run for 1 hour with 1/2 hour for question time afterwards.

Prices: AVN members: $15 per session or $20 for both sessions
Non-AVN members: $20 per session or $30 for both sessions
By phoning us on 02 6687 2436 you can join the AVN and book at the discounted rate.
 
Gardasil Vaccine overview - free to AVN members
presented by Meryl Dorey
Tuesday, March 24
from 7:30 PM AEST to 8:45 PM AEST
 
Please note - you cannot sign up for this seminar on line - please send an email to [email protected] and she will forward an invitation to you.

Meryl will be discussing the horrendous reactions that have been reported to the AVN, the way in which this vaccine is being marketed, the fact that boys are soon to be vaccinated with Gardasil and ways in which, through community and grass-roots action, pressure can be applied to bring about the withdrawal of this extremely dangerous shot. The seminar will run for 45 minutes with 1/2 an hour for question time.

Free to all current AVN members.
To join or renew your AVN membership go to www.avn.org.au or conact the AVN on 02 6687 2436.

* You do NOT have to attend on the evenings that the sessions are held. If you would prefer, you can simply book and you will be sent a link where you can access the archived event to watch at your leisure and if you do attend, you will still be able to review the archive at a later date if you wish.
 
Strange SMS messages
Some of you have contacted us gravely concerned because you have received SMS messages from someone named Karen in Kiama who is in some instances, claiming to be an AVN group leader.

Let me assure you that this person has no connection with the AVN and in fact, we have no group leaders at all.

She has obviously accessed your phone information via the magazine (I believe it is the professional members and advertisers who have been contacted). We value your privacy and will never reveal your information to any third party.

The AVN regrets that this has occurred and we suggest that you contact your service provider to determine if it's possible to block this person's number on your mobile phone so she can no longer contact you in this way.
AVN donation
 
Doctor

AVN on Facebook?

Many, many of you have suggested over the last few months that the AVN establish a presence on Facebook, the social networking site which is used and viewed by millions of people all over the world.

We think this is a great idea but don't have the exerptise or time to do this. If anyone out there would like to lend a hand, it would be very much appreciated. Please contact Meryl either by phone (02 6687 1699 or 0414 872 032) or by email - [email protected].