Your Health

Some critics accused me of being against vaccines. How far from the truth! They missed my message to weigh the risks

W. Gifford-Jones MD & Diana Gifford-Jones

November 1, 2021

BY W. GIFFORD- JONES MD & DIANA GIFFORD-JONES

What helped to shape my career? As a small child I became spellbound when I read Paul de Kruif’s book “Microbe Hunters”, published in 1926. It offers a sweeping history of the earliest microbiologists and immunologists, dating back to the discovery of microbes in the 17^th century. Louis Pasteur features prominently as the researcher who discovered how to make the vaccine that neutralizes the microbe that causes rabies. Scientists were producing vaccines to treat many other viral diseases. It became my burning desire to be a doctor.

Vaccines have saved countless lives. This is clear.

Three years ago, my column discussed vaccination. I explained that, as a surgeon, I could never guarantee that operations were 100% free of complications. I also stated that several billion dollars had been awarded to families due to severe complications following vaccination. My message was to be informed about vaccination and discuss it with your doctor.

Some critics accused me of being against vaccines. How far from the truth! They missed my message to weigh the risks.

For instance, scientific reports indicate that there are complications including deaths from COVID vaccines. But these adverse reactions are infrequent, and deaths are a very rare tragic exception. The risk is so, so, minimal versus the risk of dying unvaccinated. So, it is utter madness and so frustrating to see ill-informed people waving signs and blocking entrances to hospitals in condemnation of vaccination.

The Pasteur Institute in Paris is home to Pasteur’s tomb. It is an awe-inspiring experience to read the engravings of his discoveries on the walls.

Fortunately, Pasteur lived to see his success against rabies and anthrax recognized around the world. Moreover, his early discoveries set the stage for finding the germs that cause tetanus, pneumonia, diphtheria, typhoid, tuberculosis, cholera and gonorrhoea.

Pasteur would tell people that prior to this discovery there was no treatment for these fatal diseases. How fortunate that today people around the world can be free of these infections.

My father, dearly loved, always advised me that when annoyed, I was to calm down and wait 24 hours to reply. I’ve waited too long to respond to my critics.

For decades I have written weekly medical columns. I know I have expressed controversial opinions on some social issues. But let me state clearly, I have never been against vaccination and proven science.

I am honoured to be on the editorial board of the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, associated with the International Society for Orthomolecular Medicine. This professional association is composed of professors, researchers and experts on viral diseases from around the world, and their research offers compelling evidence that to fight this and future pandemics, preventative measures involving daily vitamins and nutrients can arm our body’s natural immune functions.

For instance, I recommend taking 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C three times a day (because it is water soluble and we lose some by urination), plus 5,000 IU of vitamin D, 400 milligrams of magnesium, and 50 micrograms of zinc, all once daily. This combination supports the body’s natural defences against viral infections and is safe, inexpensive, and available at health food stores.

This preventive strategy, along with vaccination, will decrease the risk of developing an infection, and if infected, the risk of complications involving hospitalization or dying.

Paul de Kruif’s book is still available and still a great read.

I hope this clarifies my views on vaccination. As a young child no one could have changed my opinion about the Microbe Hunters. No critics can change my opinion today.

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Written By W. Gifford-Jones MD & Diana Gifford-Jones

Dr. W. Gifford-Jones, MD is a graduate of the University of Toronto and the Harvard Medical School. He trained in general surgery at Strong Memorial Hospital, University of Rochester, Montreal General Hospital, McGill University and in Gynecology at Harvard. His storied medical career began as a general practitioner, ship’s surgeon, and hotel doctor. For more than 40 years, he specialized in gynecology, devoting his practice to the formative issues of women’s health. In 1975, he launched his weekly medical column that has been published by national and local Canadian and U.S. newspapers. Today, the readership remains over seven million. His advice contains a solid dose of common sense and he never sits on the fence with controversial issues. He is the author of nine books including, “The Healthy Barmaid”, his autobiography “You’re Going To Do What?”, “What I Learned as a Medical Journalist”, and “90+ How I Got There!” Many years ago, he was successful in a fight to legalize heroin to help ease the pain of terminal cancer patients. His foundation at that time donated $500,000 to establish the Gifford-Jones Professorship in Pain Control and Palliative Care at the University of Toronto Medical School. At 93 years of age he rappelled from the top of Toronto’s City Hall (30 stories) to raise funds for children with a life-threatening disease through the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Diana Gifford-Jones, the daughter of W. Gifford-Jones, MD, Diana has extensive global experience in health and healthcare policy. Diana is Special Advisor with The Aga Khan University, which operates 2 quaternary care hospitals and numerous secondary hospitals, medical centres, pharmacies, and laboratories in South Asia and Africa. She worked for ten years in the Human Development sectors at the World Bank, including health policy and economics, nutrition, and population health. For over a decade at The Conference Board of Canada, she managed four health-related executive networks, including the Roundtable on Socio-Economic Determinants of Health, the Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, the Canadian Centre for Environmental Health, and the Centre for Health System Design and Management. Her master’s degree in public policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government included coursework at Harvard Medical School. She is also a graduate of Wellesley College. She has extensive experience with Canadian universities, including at Carleton University, where she was the Executive Director of the Global Academy. She lived and worked in Japan for four years and speaks Japanese fluently. Diana has the designation as a certified Chartered Director from The Directors College, a joint venture of The Conference Board of Canada and McMaster University. She has recently published a book on the natural health philosophy of W. Gifford-Jones, called No Nonsense Health – Naturally!

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