(Courtesy of Touro College) Responding to the outbreak of measles in New York, Touro College and University System has released a dynamic video public service announcement presenting facts about the disease and the measles vaccination, and dispelling fictions propagated by anti-vaxxers.

Dr. Alan Kadish, the president of Touro and New York Medical College, said his team is eager to educate the public, and doctors affiliated with its school are happy to speak with institutions interested in educating their membership on measles vaccinations. Touro has also offered New York City’s Health Department its facilities and staff to help get people vaccinated.

Dr. Kadish says the team effort is vital not only to saving lives, but also to stem the tide of anti-Semitism that is resulting from the publicity surrounding the epidemic.

“Opposition to vaccinations on religious grounds is the result of an international urban myth,” said Kadish. “The research implicating MMR vaccines as a cause of autism has been repeatedly debunked. A recent study of more than 600,000 children actually showed those who received the vaccine were slightly less likely to develop autism. While those who oppose vaccines are not confined to the Jewish community, there are still small pockets of the community that represent part of a larger, ill-informed nationwide movement who oppose vaccines. But vaccines are crucial and it is incumbent upon educated people, from clinicians and physicians to religious leaders who serve as influencers, to debunk the myths.”

The video can viewed at: https://bit.ly/2GXBrR2.

With 3,200 medical students, Touro College and University System operates five medical schools—the only medical programs in the U.S. fully under Jewish auspices. For more information visit www.touro.edu.