MMR – public policy in crisis: whose tragedy?

Abstract

To explore the issues surrounding the falling rates of MMR vaccination followingthe publication of a controversial study by Wakefield et al. In order to take a fresh look at the MMR crisis, theGreek tragedy, Antigone, was used as a "strong plot" to de-contextualise the underlying social and political issues. In this short paper, two themes are explored that emerge from reading Antigone with respect to the unfolding crisis of public confidence in the MMR vaccine: first, the challenge to government inthe form of a decrease in public trust in government and government policies; and second, how such a challenge assumes significance and, arising from that, the question of how one might respond to the challenge. The MMR debate throws issues of importance to society into relief--for example,public trust in government and science; and notions of public good versus rational choice in public policy on vaccination, However, much of the debate has been polarised into good versus evil--good and evil being subjective positions that are interchangeable, depending on the side one favours. It is argued that the issues are more complex than this, and are as much to do with political consent and the bargain between citizen and state. Using "strong plots" to theorise about current issues is powerful because it allows one to explore them from different angles and challenge one's understanding. Antigone provides us with a way of standing back from the MMR crisis and re-conceptualising the issues to capture the essence of the underlying debate.