Culture Differences in the News: Swine Flu vaccination

WillYourVoteBCounted

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Wed Oct-28-09 11:32 PM
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Culture Differences in the News: Swine Flu vaccination

Should people be vaccinated against Swine Flu? Apparently culture has something to do with the issue...

In the Netherlands (low Power Distance, high Individualism) only 25% of nurses have agreed to take the vaccine soon to be made available. The overwhelming majority (75%) are suspicious of any "government-led" initiative, according to Radio Netherlands. "For a start it is very difficult to really protect yourself against flu. Every flu jab targets a certain virus. And there are hundreds going around, so you are not protected at all. The side effects can be really serious. And it seems like there is a lot of panic-spreading going on. It is only the pharmaceutical industry that stands to benefit from it," said Ute.

Nannet van der Geest, company doctor at a Nijmegen hospital, is not keen on compulsory vaccination campaigns like the one in the United States. Instead she believes in providing the medical staff with the right information so they can make their own choices.

These opinions are typical of cultures scoring very high on Individualism and low on Power Distance. People show less dependent behavior and value dissenting opinions.
Meanwhile, in Brazil (high Power Distance, low Individualism) people are complaining that "the Government is not providing enough medicine against Swine Flu and the vaccination campaign is coming too late!" Typical of the Brazilian culture is to consider that it is the Government's responsibility (whether Federal or Regional) to "take care of the population". The vaccination campaign is perceived as "needs to be compulsory, otherwise people will not take the responsibility to be vaccinated. They need to be told!"

Very different approaches are needed to design public health policies...
Posted by Fernando Lanzer at Saturday, October 24, 2009

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Tumbulu

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Wed Oct-28-09 11:36 PM
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1. how interesting (nt)

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snagglepuss

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Wed Oct-28-09 11:48 PM
Response to Reply #1

3. +1

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MercutioATC

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Wed Oct-28-09 11:39 PM
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2. Interesting study.

A separate issue is the societal value of vaccination, and whether that value supersedes individualism.

Vaccination decreases the overall number of people infected with a virus. That has societal value. The question is whether the benefit to society trumps the right to forgo vaccinations.

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WillYourVoteBCounted

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Wed Oct-28-09 11:55 PM
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4. your trust in govt mandated vaccines is culterally based the article says

The theory expressed in the article is that:
If you adheres to authority, then you can't get enough of the mandated vaccine.
If you are more individualistic, then you are skeptical about govt mandated vaccine.

Whether you believe that vaccines prevent flu or not, the issue is should govt be able to force
that upon you.

IF the vaccine works, then you are protected if you get it.

Did YOU get the swine flu vaccine? I hope you did if you support it and argue against those who didn't want it.

My friend's dad had his health ruined by the first swine flu vac - I think it was in the 80s,
her dad was robustly healthy, and then he got a swine flu vac.

He was a bed ridden vegatable after that until he died.

My friend and her Mom had to take feed and change him.

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MercutioATC

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Thu Oct-29-09 02:04 AM
Response to Reply #4

6. I did it right. I actually got H1N1.

...but my son, who has asthma, is getting the vaccine.

It's not that I trust the government or drug companies, it's a matter of playing the odds. My son has asthma, so he's at risk of serious complications from H1N1. The risk of him experiencing serious side effects from an H1N1 vaccination are lower than his risk of serious complications if he contracts the virus.

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HuckleB

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Thu Oct-29-09 05:54 AM
Response to Reply #2

8. What study?

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beam me up scottie

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Wed Oct-28-09 11:57 PM
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5. Who is this guy and where did he get his information?

Never mind, found his profile:

Age: 57
Gender: Male
Astrological Sign: Capricorn
Zodiac Year: Rabbit
Industry: Consulting
Occupation: consultant
Location: Amstelveen : Netherlands

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HuckleB

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Thu Oct-29-09 05:55 AM
Response to Reply #5

9. +1

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LeftishBrit

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Thu Oct-29-09 03:51 AM
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7. Could it have something to do with the fact...

Edited on Thu Oct-29-09 03:52 AM by LeftishBrit

that there is much more poverty in Brazil than in the Netherlands? And also it's a much bigger country.

I really hate people who sneer at government-let health campaigns (NOT the same thing as a mandate) on the grounds that it either causes or reflects a lack of rugged individualism or personal responsibility.

'ypical of the Brazilian culture is to consider that it is the Government's responsibility (whether Federal or Regional) to "take care of the population".'AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!! I have several Brazilian friends, who could tell Mr. Lanzer all aboutt rugged individualism and personal responsibility in Brazil before governments started to provide welfare and health care to the population as a whole? Even now, provision for the poor is hardly on the level of the Netherlands.

The shanty towns; the street children; the soul- and body-destroying poverty. And someone living in comfort in the Netherlands has the fucking nerve to criticize the Brazilians for wanting the 'government to take care of them'.

Thank God, or whoever one thanks, and give admiration to the people of Brazil (and other countries in Latin America) for the quite recent advent of democracy, against a lot of odds, and significant move to the left, and election of Lula as a decent leader.

Right-libertarianism, including the objection to vaccination programmes *because* they are provided by the government, is a disease much worse and more deadly than the swine flu. And when in this context they criticize Brazil, which achieved 'government that (to some degree) takes care of the population' so recently, and I've heard first-hand about what it was like when they didn't, it just makes me bloody sick.

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trotsky

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Thu Oct-29-09 06:47 AM
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10. What could possibly go wrong if we base public health policy on blog posts?

GO DEMOCRATS!

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