Everybody’s Talking About… #Measles

Hello everyone! I’m Charlene from BBC

Learning English.

Today we’re talking about measles,

a disease which kills thousands of people

around the world every year.

The World Health Organisation has just announced

that the number of measles cases in Europe

in 2017 was four times the rate for the previous year.

Experts say that this worrying trend is partly due to a fall

in immunisation rates – and one reason for this

is public fear about the safety of vaccinations.

Everybody’s talking about it,

and I’m asking three questions

to find out the actual words

that people are saying. Question one.

Are you concerned about the rise in measles in Europe?

Yes, definitely. As a mother of a young child anyway,

I’ve always made sure she’s had all

her vaccinations on time and it gives me peace of mind.

Yes, yeah I am concerned about that.

If, you know, people aren’t being vaccinated,

and it’s important to get vaccinated, definitely.

Err… no. No.

Do you think people are right to worry

about the safety of vaccinations?

I don’t think so. I think the record is that

they’re proved to be quite safe.

Yes, I do, because, I mean for example

the flu vaccination now, I wonder

how much of that is relevant,

or necessary … because you are still giving

part of the actual disease or illness

I wouldn’t say they need to worry, but I think

they should take it seriously and act responsibly.

Some people want measles vaccinations to be made

compulsory by law. Would you go along with that?

I would actually, yeah,

because it helps the others as well

… I would agree with that, I would.

At the end of the day I think it should be left up to

the individual to decide,

but for something as serious as that,

then maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea.

I think everybody’s got their own right to choose

… I think if they can promote it positively,

then more people will choose to have it done.

So there you go: Everybody’s talking about measles

and now you can too!

There’s a recap coming up in just a second –

but before I go don’t forget you can find out more

about this topic at BBC Learning English dot com,

you can also find us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

and YouTube – and get talking! See you next time!